Farmers union expects higher tomato prices due to crop damage

AMMAN — The Jordan Valley Farmers Union expects a hike in tomato prices as a crop disease hit greenhouses, but the Agriculture Ministry says this season’s production is “good”.

Union President Adnan Khaddam said greenhouses in central parts of the Jordan Valley witnessed a “huge and unexpected” drop in temperatures on Sunday night.

Due to the temperature drop, tomato crops were infected with a fungal disease caused by the Alternaria solani, Khaddam added in a phone interview with The Jordan Times on Monday. 

“The damage to crops varies between 60 to 100 per cent,” he said, noting that temperatures inside the greenhouses are usually around 35°C, while they dropped to 5°C on the night in question.

Khaddam added that one greenhouse produces an average of 10-16 tonnes of tomatoes during the winter season, which ends in late April, expecting the amount to drop to three tonnes. 

“This will result in great losses for farmers in addition to a price hike for consumers,” he said, expecting the price of a box of tomatoes, which weighs eight to 12 kilogrammes and is sold for JD2, to double. 

The union president claimed that farmers were not warned by the Agriculture Ministry or the Jordan Meteorological Department of the temperature drop. 

Meanwhile, the ministry’s spokesperson, Nimer Haddadin, said farmers are “familiar” with the fungal disease, dismissing claims that a drop in temperatures may have affected the tomato crop.

“The disease hits crops when farmers do not follow the ministry’s instructions regarding the use of pesticides,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

He expected “good” local agricultural production this season, highlighting an increase in international demand for Jordanian crops.

Jordan, Haddadin said, exports tomatoes to the region and Europe.

“Jordan is among the top 10 in tomato cultivation,” he said, adding that the annual production of fruits and vegetables is over 3 million tonnes.

January’s yield of tomatoes bears signs of a “positive” season, the official added, but said that the ministry has no official figures on last month’s production yet.