"Jordan: "new opportunities for production of quality fresh produce"

Jordan is a small country where fruit and vegetable production is concentrated in the Jordan Valley, in the region of Mafraq (area in the north, on the border with Syria), and in some smaller niches in the south: in the valley of Arabia, and near Aqaba. The agricultural area, considering the vast desert areas, does not reach 1% of the whole national land area and agricultural production represents in the statistics only 3% of GDP. However, the enlarged agricultural activities, including processing industries, accounts for approximately 30% of GDP, with about 25,000 companies that are producing for the market. Nevertheless, the production structure is quite pulverized, with an average farm area of 2-3 ha.

Among the vegetable productions, Jordan excels in the production of fresh tomato, pepper, cucumber, eggplant, zucchini, watermelon, melon and herbs (mint, sage). Another important crop is okra, used mainly for the domestic market and some ethnic niches in Europe (e.g. the people of Indian and Pakistani origin present in the UK). Among the fruit production, a part from dates (the cultivar Medjool is particularly important due to its large fruits) and citrus, peaches, apricots, grapes and pomegranates are important produces. Prickly pear, mango and guava are other typical equatorial crops, that find space in Jordan.

The particular feature of Jordan is the possibility to produce out of season: the Jordan Valley is in fact a natural greenhouse with temperatures that in winter usually do not fall below 10-12 °C, and with enough light to get an excellent quality in tunnel productions. The season in this region begins in September and the first harvest takes place in January. So in a period of time prior to all the productions of the Mediterranean basin. In the case of peaches, can be interesting the late production, with cultivars that ripen in late September and early October.
Export to Europe is limited in quantity and species: export is limited mainly to peppers, cucumbers, dates. Export is higher towards the Gulf countries, Syria, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The activity of processing is not highly developed. There are however some interesting industries for the production of jams and other processed products. The Italian industry of machinery and equipment is present in Jordan particularly in olive processing (oil production). However, Italian packaging and grading systems are also present. These technologies, along with those of post-harvest (cold storage, storage systems, calibration systems) may find interest from Jordanians operators. Italy is considered a leader in this area and so it is in a privileged position in relation to the Jordanian market, although recently Turkey sees growth in its market place. Italy, in general, is among the top exporters to Jordan and has surpassed Germany last year.

The Twinning project, funded by the European Union, is conducted by a consortium of Italy and Poland. The Italian partner is the MiPAAF, while the Polish partner is represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Other institutional partners are also involved: the Plant Protection Service of the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions, and the Foundation Minoprio. For Poland, are involved the Inspectorate for Plant Health and Seed Certification, and the Institute of Horticulture.

SALA GIALLA - Thursday 27 September
Workshop: "Jordan: new opportunities for production of quality fresh produce"
Promoted by: Twinning Project EU-Jordan “Capacity building for the Ministry of Agriculture in the field of EU third country listing criteria for plants and their fresh products” JO 10/ENP-AP/AG/12
Chairman: Eligio Malusà – TWINNING PROJECT JO 10/ENP-AP/AG/12
2:00 pm
- Welcome address by the Authorities
- Agriculture in Jordan - Radi Al Tarawneh – Jordan Ministry of Agriculture;
- Research and Extension for the production of quality products in Jordan - Fawzi Al Sheyab – National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension;
- Financial support for agro-food exporters - Tawfiq Habashneh – Agricultural Credit Corporation;
- Jordan as a source of out of season fresh produce - Zuhair Arif Jweihan – Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables (JEPA);
- The new Jordan Quality System - Eligio Malusà – TWINNING PROJECT JO 10/ENP-AP/AG/12.
2:50 pm
Conclusions