A special steering committee at the Israeli ministry of agriculture estimates that the export volume of vegetables from Israel this season will amount to 447,000 tonnes, compared with 405,000t in 2005. Total vegetable production reached 2.03 million tonnes in 2005, of which 1.23mt were routed to the local market (60.6 per cent), 405,000t were exported (20 per cent), and 395,000t were sent for processing (19.5 per cent). In 2000, the export of vegetables from Israel amounted to 180,000t.
According to the committee, 2,830 farmers were engaged directly in the production of vegetables in 2005. Some 2,650 produced for the local market; 940 growers saw their produce exported and 240 produced for the processing sector.
The value of the vegetables in 2005 totaled NIS 4.68 billion ($1.11 billion), of which $433.33 million was generated by exports. The value of vegetable production grew by 59 per cent between 2000 and 2005.
Production under protected structures in 2005 increased by 17,000t, bringing it to a total of 57,550t of which 41,550t were grown in greenhouses, especially tomatoes including tomatoes for marketing on the vine and and cherry tomatoes. Open-field vegetable cultivation covered an area of 129,000 acres, of which 42,000 acres was dedicated to potatoes. The ministry estimates exports of potatoes from Israel in 2006-07 will reach an all-time record of 300,000 tonnes.
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