Puebla farmers accuse Volkswagen of hurting their crops with hail cannons

The inhabitants of the Santa Rita Tlahuapan municipality in the state of Puebla protested outside Volkswagen ’s local assembly plant. They accused the German company of using hail cannons to protect their vehicles, deeply affecting people’s crops.

Protesters arrived at the automobile assembly plant and blocked the Mexico-Puebla highway to demand that the directors put a stop to the use of the harmful devices.

They warned that, should the company ignore their demands, other measures would soon be undertaken to stop the hail cannons from causing any further weather alterations in the Santa Rita Tlahuapan municipality .

Two days ago, the Secretary of Rural Development, Sustainability, and Land-use Planning, Rodrigo Riestra Piña , revealed that the Government of Puebla ordered Volkswagen to stop using hail cannons.

In early June , farmers from the Santa Rita Tlahuapan, Cuautlancingo, and Coronango municipalities reported alterations on their crops.

Those affected argued that there are 300 land owners and small-scale farmers whose crops haven’t given any results from the harvest they made months ago throughout 445 acres of fertile land .

The German company is yet to issue an official statement on the matter.

During the first five months of the year, the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, along with its subsidiary, Audi, assembled more than 155,000 vehicles .

According to the Mexican Motor Industry Association , Volkswagen’s car manufacture dropped 21% during this period, though Audi’s car manufacture increased by 71% .

Volkswagen to invest USD$658 million in Puebla

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