Yonatan Bar-On, of Arava Export Growers, explains that “the number of growers is dropping because it’s a really tough activity; many young growers who started few years ago are likely to stop because of the low prices, and only growers with larger yields and more resources can survive the bad seasons.” Some growers already changed to other crops, because they have three years in a row bad prices for the peppers.
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Another issue, according to Yonatan, is that cultivating peppers has become more expensive, from 3,000 to 5,000 Euro per dunam. “labor workers have seen their salaries increase due to new regulations; additionally, the cost price is of 3.50 to 4 Euro per box, and overall, depending on rates, you need 1 Euro/kilo to be able to cover the investment,” affirms Yonatan.
In Paran, around Arava Export Growers’ packing house, there are a total of around 125 farms with 625 hectares of greenhouses, 5 hectares per farm.
For more information:
Malou EvenV.P. Business Development & Global Sales
Arava Export Growers Ltd.
Tel : +972-3-972-8-104
malou@arv.co.il
www.arv.co.il