A new study found that Puerto Rican farmers have lower prices than import costs for 30 of 74 agricultural products analyzed, suggesting a significant opportunity to boost the island's food self-sufficiency. The research, titled 'Self-sufficiency in a Small Country? Evidence from an empirical analysis along the supply chain in Puerto Rico,' was conducted by economist José Caraballo-Cueto, professor at the University of Puerto Rico–Río Piedras Graduate School of Business Administration, and published in the international journal Agriculture & Food Security (Springer Nature).
The study compiled private pricing data across the supply chain—importers, supermarkets, restaurants, farmers markets, and direct sales—for 74 crops that can be grown in Puerto Rico. While local farmers aren't generally cheaper than importers overall, their prices are consistently and statistically significantly lower than supermarkets (32.9% lower on average) and especially direct-to-consumer sales (51.8% lower on average). Caraballo-Cueto said the goal was to identify specifically which products and supply-chain points allow local farmers to compete today, finding the answer is 'many more than previously thought,' especially when intermediaries are removed.
Competitive local products include sweet pepper, basil, eggplant, squash, cauliflower, asparagus, guava, plantain, tender beans, ginger, corn, mesclun, radish, watermelon, mushrooms, tamarind, tarragon, cherry tomato, grapefruit, and purple yautía, among others.