AMMAN — This
year, the olive yield is expected to be 20–30 percent higher than last year,
said Olive Oil Producer and Mill Owner Syndicate spokesman
Mahmoud Al-Omari,
citing result of studies conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
اضافة اعلان
Yet, despite the
bounteous crop expected, Omari said the price of olive oil is going to go up.
Farmers face a
range of challenges, he said, “from the high costs of production to the high
prices of fuel and energy, all of which will be reflected in the price of a
gallon of olive oil”.
Ismail
Al-Batayneh, a farmer from Irbid, told
Jordan News that “climate change had
affected farmers negatively.” forcing them to buy larger quantities of water to
irrigate olive trees to avoid the “damage caused by drought”.
At the same time,
he said, “the frost that affected Jordan in March damaged a large number of
agricultural crops and caused significant financial losses to farmers” who will
try to “compensate their losses by raising the price of olive oil”.
Since “farmers
bear all the financial burden brought about by the high prices of oil
derivatives, high cost of water for irrigation, and fertilizer prices, they
will be compelled to sell their crops at a higher price,” Ismail said.
According to the
director-general of the
Jordan Farmers’ Union, Mahmoud Al-Oran, “the expected
rise in the price of olive oil could be attributed to the region’s exposure to
the March frost, which damaged much of the agricultural crops, which are
expected to be lower than in previous years.”
He also said that
“the amount of rainfall over the previous two years, 2020 and 2021, was lower
than the average annual rate, and this had forced farmers to rely on
supplementary irrigation, acquiring water tanks.”
Oran suggesting
closing “border crossings to imports of oil from neighboring countries, and
preventing smuggling, in order to preserve and support the distinctiveness of
our national product.”
The head of the
Jordan Valley Farmers Union, Adnan Khaddam, reiterated that “the climate change
had an impact on agricultural crops” and that “the high cost of production
poses a financial burden and forces farmers to raise the price of olive oil so
that they can cover the costs and make a profit.”
He, however,
believes that “it is early to talk about an increase on the prices of olive
oil.”
Head of the
Jordan Farmers Association Ibrahim Al-Sharif told
Jordan News that the
“production costs have increased and production has decreased, and this will
affect the price of olive oil.”
The Ministry of
Agriculture spokesman could not be reached for a comment.
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