Results from the first tests on dried exotic fruit in Algeria are encouraging and an awareness campaign is being carried out to incite farmers to invest and expand into this sector. According to Mahmoud Mendil, Director General of the Technical Institute of Fruit Trees and Vines (ITAF), “A lot of farmers are starting to be aware of the economic importance of this type of farming, for which they are showing increasing interest”.
17 different types of dried exotic fruits were studied by ITAF (including kiwis, mangos and avocados), which for some fruits took between 2 and 8 years depending on how the experiments went on. The Minister of Agriculture plans to reinforce dried fruit production capacities, notably for raisins, for which 5 varieties have been approved. According to Mr Mendil, up until now over 120 hectares were being used for raisin farming, yet since the end of 2014, 50 hectares were used for the experiments.
Dried exotic fruit imports reach over $500 million annually with volume reaching 500,000 tons.