The prime season for fruits and vegetables is coming to an end in Morocco. Producers and exporters complain of a tough year with bad weather, water shortages, public spending increases and bans on growing some products or exporting others.
Asmaa Baibane, export manager at Agadir-based packaging company BL Agri: “In general, the year has been challenging with severe drought and bad weather. This has had a direct impact on previous crop volumes, which are lower than the previous year.” BL Agri mainly exports peppers, bell peppers, courgettes, cucumbers and green beans to customers in Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
The amount of reduction varies from product to product, from 25 percent for all tomato varieties to 60 percent for citrus varieties. According to several growers, some varieties are more severely affected, such as vine tomatoes with 60 percent reduced yields or 40-60 percent reduced Nadorcot.
The end of the pre-season indicates the start of the summer fruit season, including watermelons and melons, but a difficult season is expected in the sector as well: “The cultivation of watermelons is prohibited in Tata province and only in Zagora province. This means that the quantities for these products have decreased.”
However, strong demand has softened the losses, explains Bybane: “We have a lot of demand for early vegetables from Western Europe. Demand is also increasing in the UK. Due to lower supply, it’s more expensive than last year. . . year.”
“Customers in Europe have offset lower Moroccan volumes with other origins such as the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey,” concludes Piebane.
For more information:
Mrs. Asma Baipane
PL Agri
Phone: +212 661 060466
[email protected]
www.bl-agri.com
