Local produce exported to 50 new markets in 2014 — ministry

AMMAN — Local fruits and vegetables were exported to 50 new markets in 2014, thus raising agricultural exports by 12 per cent compared to 2013, a government official said on Wednesday.

Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said the ministry has been seeking new markets for local produce to compensate for the drop in exports following the Syrian crisis and instability in Iraq.

“The majority of the new markets we explored last year are former republics of the Soviet Union,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times, noting that the ministry is still scouting for new countries to export its produce to.

Official figures indicate that the country exported 888,000 tonnes of agricultural produce in 2014, which generated JD550 million, a 14 per cent increase compared to 2013, when produce exports stood at 790,000 tonnes.

Vegetables constituted 86.4 per cent of the agricultural exports, while fruits accounted for 13.6 per cent, according to Haddadin.

Tomatoes topped the vegetable exports with 67.5 per cent, followed by cucumbers (6.1 per cent) and lettuce (5 per cent), he said, adding that peaches and nectarines constituted almost half of the fruit exports (44 per cent), followed by melons and watermelons (24.7 per cent), and citrus fruits (17.7 per cent).

Salah Tarawneh, ministry’s assistant secretary general for marketing and information, said 65.5 per cent of the fruits and vegetables were exported to Gulf states, 19.3 per cent to the Iraqi market, 12.2 per cent to Syria and Lebanon and 3 per cent to other countries.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, Tarawneh noted that 11.3 per cent of the fruits and vegetables were exported in April last year, when over 100,000 tonnes of local produce were exported.