PHOTO
Farmers, mostly women, pick tomatoes from a field in Sbikha town, which has been having drinking water problems for years, near Tunisia's central city of Kairouan on June 25, 2024. Like its neighbour Algeria and large areas of the Mediterranean region, Tunisia suffers from "alert drought conditions", according to the European Drought Observatory. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
Tunisia's exported fruits fell by 22.1% in volume to 12,748 tonnes and by 30.9% in value to TND 45.5 million till July 3, compared with the same period last year, data published Tuesday by the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI) show.
This drop was mainly posted in exports of peaches (-13%), nectarines (-27%), apricots (-6%), dried almonds (-25%), plums (-50%) and watermelons (-12%), despite the 10% rise in the production of summer stone fruit during the 2023/2024 season compared with the previous season.
Production is estimated at 245,000 tonnes for this season, compared with 223,000 tonnes in 2023.
The rise in production was reported in peaches and nectarines (5% to 122,400 tonnes), apricots (28% to 41,000 tonnes), dried almonds (5% to 48,600 tonnes), plums (16% to 19,000 tonnes), cherries (22% to 9,000 tonnes) and medlars (26% to 3,100 tonnes).
The fall in exports id due to the fact that the export period coincided with the Eid al-Adha holiday, which had an impact on the quantities exported, especially to Gulf countries.
Data published by the Inter-Professional Fruit Grouping (GiFruits), fruit was exported mainly to Libya (72.3% of total exports). Some 9,217 tonnes of fruit were exported to Libya, i.e. down 6.7% in quantity and -18% in value. Peaches topped the list of fruit exported to Libya (3,727 tonnes, or 40.4% of total exports to this country).
Italy is the second most important destination for Tunisian fruit, with some 2,180 tonnes in 2024, worth TND 4.2 million, down 53% in quantity and -54.5% in value. Watermelons are the fruit of choice for this market, with 1,930 tonnes exported (89% of total exports to this country).
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