Burned orchards, challenges in harvesting, and greedy middlemen: this year, both farmers and consumers are feeling the impact. Rani Bar Nes, head of the Fruit Division at the Israeli Plant Council, discussed the sector's struggles in an interview with *Davar* newspaper.
This season, tens of thousands of tons of fruit were destroyed. Bar Nes had to destroy 90 tons himself because he couldn't harvest them, and many other farmers faced similar problems. He grows fruit in Moshav Bitzaron near Ashkelon, but the situation in northern Israel is even worse. There, fires alone have destroyed a thousand dunams of orchards. Many unaffected orchards remain unreachable due to ongoing Hezbollah rocket attacks.
According to the Plant Council's estimates, hundreds of tons of summer fruits in the north remain unharvested. Israeli consumers have not felt a shortage because over 20% of the country's fruits were previously exported to the Gaza Strip. Surprisingly, this export has continued, but has plummeted fivefold—from 70 truckloads a day to just 15.
Bar Nes blames middlemen for the sharp rise in fruit prices. This year, the average wholesale price of nectarines was 2 euros per kilogram, of which farmers received 1.6 euros. However, in stores, prices range from 3.4 to 4.8 euros.
Source: detaly.co.il