Halting lemon imports is linked to self-sufficiency in production, says Agriculture Minister

Agriculture Minister Khaled Hneifat said on Monday that the ministry is seeking self-sufficiency in the production of citrus fruits, especially lemons, to cover market needs and stop imports. According to a ministry statement, Hneifat said during a meeting with the Jordan Valley Citrus Agricultural Cooperative Association and a number of citrus growers that the process of reaching the hoped-for self-sufficiency comes through developing the value chains of the lemon crop and developing post-harvest operations from cooling, waxing, and storage to cover the gap between the need and the available, especially between May and mid-August. He added that there are promising export opportunities for the local product due to the excellence of Jordanian citrus fruits in terms of quality and taste, but the limitations of the export process lie in the failure to meet the requirements of some markets, especially the sorting, waxing, and cooling processes. During the meeting, which discussed the obstacles and challenges facing the citrus sector, Hneifat explained that the ministry stopped granting import licenses for lemons at the end of July and prevented the entry of any consignment after August 20, and that the decline in prices is due to a number of reasons, summarized in the decrease in the purchasing power of the consumer, which is evident in the decrease in consumption rates for many crops and goods, in addition to the large expansion of lemon cultivation in the northern Jordan Valley areas, which resulted in an abundant supply and low prices. About 150 tons of lemons are supplied to the markets on a daily basis, while the quantities of African lemons imported to the central market during October do not exceed 12 tons on a daily basis. Last week, the amount of local lemons supplied to central markets in Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa increased to nearly 350 tons. Source: Jordan News Agency