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Israeli
pepper campaign:
stabilisation follows expansion
www.peppertoday.com, August 2008 |
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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.
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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”. |
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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. |
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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.
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F&V production in Central Arava &
Sodom Valley - 2007/08
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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. |
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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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