Agriculture sector reaps 63% growth in 2019 — Minister

AMMAN — Discussing the “milestones” that the Ministry of Agriculture has achieved in 2019, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment Ibrahim Shahahdeh said that the overall growth in the sector has reached over 63 per cent compared with last year.

In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, the minister reviewed the ministry’s new “agriculture as a national strategy” movement, which has been targetting the protection of the local agricultural produce and livestock sectors.

Protecting local produce

In October of last year, the ministry put into effect a by-law that protects the local production of 22 different products, completely prohibitting their import.

“In October of 2018, one kilogramme of potatoes was worth JD1.5, but in May of this year, three kiolgrammes were sold for JD1. Measuring this against 2016, when the import gates were wide open, we have saved over JD350 million,” said the minister.

Compared with 2018, the savings are estimated at JD180 million.

The growth rate of the production of various seeds during the fourth quarter of this year, compared with last year, is 300 per cent, the minister said.

“This is an unprecedented growth rate, and it is only made possible when you tell the farmer to stop playing it safe and planting tomatoes, which was the most popular choice for plantation, and start expanding,” said Shahadeh.

“If you tell the farmer to divert from the traditional, to take a risk, while guaranteeing their protection against foreign competition, this is what happens,” he added.

Exports to 20 European countries in 2019 are 30 to 50 tonnes on a daily basis, according to ministry numbers. Bell peppers, in particular, are sold at JD7 a box, bringing high profit rates for farmers, the minister pointed out.

According to Shahahdeh, the ministry did not just stop at protecting local produce, but ventured into other areas with its measures.

“Believing in the quality of our dates, we encouraged palm plantation, and now we produce 14 per cent of global Mejdool dates,” said the minister.

Livestock growth

Growth has not been exclusive” to agricultural produce, but reached livestock production as well, doubling the exports of sheep compared to last year’s numbers.

Shahahdeh said that “the profits, naturally, doubled as well, reaching around 105 million this year”.

The poultry sector has also seen its share of improvement, with ministry numbers indicating that the import of chicken has gone down from 4,000 tonnes to 1,000 tonnes.

“That is four million eggs on a daily basis,” added Shahahdeh.

Local milk is now sold at 55 piastres per kilo instead of 33 piastres, which the minister said is its “true value that has been underestimated for years, as imported milk was always given priority”.

Cutting down on foreign labour

Shahahdeh continued, saying that now, the ministry’s priority is creating jobs for locals.

“We have protected the local produce; now it is time to protect the locals themselves,” he said.

The ministry has signed agreements with three local organisations to recruit seasonal workers and train them in the field, promising them medical insurance and enrolment in the Social Security Fund.

“So far, cutting down on poultry imports has created 1,000 new jobs, as the sellers now need more local people to handle the increased workload. Soon enough, we hope that this will spread to the other sub-sectors as well.”