Israeli pepper campaign:
stabilisation follows expansion
www.peppertoday.com, August 2008
Peppers remain the star product of Israel’s horticultural business
in 2007/ 2008
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Israel is known as
Europe’s winter garden, thanks to its
favorable climate, which allows the production regions to grow peppers and other key vegetables at a time of year when crops in northern and central Europe are almost frozen. However, despite the bonus of mild daytime temperatures and intense light, even on the shortest days of winter, water resources are scarce in a country where turning desert into fertile land is little short of miraculous.
Israel has increased its pepper production area by 15%
According to S&G estimates, Israel has increased its pepper
production area by 15% for the 2008/2009 campaign, somewhat less
than the corresponding increase of 25% for the previous
campaign.
Although the possibilities of finding suitable land are fairly
limited due to the lack of water resources, this increase in the
cultivation area has in fact exceeded expectations, including
those expressed by Mr. Enrico Rappuoli, S&G Market Manager for
Italy and Israel, at the end of 2007: “The possibility of
increasing the pepper crop area is really limited and I would
predict that it will only be extended by 5%. Water problems are
extreme in Israel and this makes expansion particularly
difficult. The opportunity for Israeli companies lies in
establishing joint ventures with other countries such as Egypt,
Turkey and Senegal, and helping them to meet Israel’s standards
of pepper production”.
Despite the expansion of the
pepper production area for the last campaign, during which
Israeli capsicum growers took advantage of Spain’s problems with
residue levels, growers had to face a serious problem, when
unusually low temperatures in mid-January caused severe damage
to pepper plants at a crucial stage of their development,
especially in the Arava Valley, the main pepper growing region
in the country.
Arava Valley and Jordan Valley, key pepper growing regions
The Arava Valley accounts for 50% of Israel’s total area of
glasshouse-grown vegetables, and sweet pepper cultivation has
been key to growers’ survival, with over 550 growers settled in
the region in 2006, according to the Fruit & Veg Technology
magazine. The aggravation of irrigation problems in the north of
the country during the current campaign has consolidated the
Arava Valley and the Jordan Valley, in the south of the country,
as the country’s most important pepper growing regions.
At present, peppers represent 69% of all
horticultural business conducted in the Central Arava and Sodom
Valley, according to the Yair Central and Northern Arava R&D, an
Israeli company which has developed a project in the region to
improve the control of water, fertilisers and agricultural
technologies.
F&V production in Central Arava
& Sodom Valley - 2007/08
As for exports, severe frost early in 2008 could
put an end to the spectacular progression of Israel’s EU-bound
exports in the period from 2002 to 2007.
According to Mr. Rappuoli, adverse climatic conditions could
affect approximately 10 to 15% of pepper exports to the European
Union: “Whereas years ago the USA and Russia were key importers
of peppers from Israel, in recent campaigns the principal
destination of peppers from Israel has been the EU.”
Eurostat data on pepper imports into EU countries show that
Israel is the country that has recorded the highest increase in
volume of all the countries that export peppers to the EU: the
figure of 27,369 tonnes exported in 2002 had risen 250% to
96,492 tonnes by 2007.
Meanwhile, it is the aim of growers to maintain the extra
clients they gained during the last campaign and to consolidate
Israeli capsicums as a high quality product in the international
market.
S&G Peppers Today Newsletter 10 - August 2008
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