More fruit, vegetables but lower earnings for farmers

An increase of 450,000 kilogrammes of marketed fruit and vegetables was registered in the second quarter of this year, when compared to the same period last year.

The National Statistics Office said 11.79 million kgs were produced in the second quarter of 2003, while 12.24 million kgs were produced this year.

Despite the 3.4 per cent increase in production, the wholesale value amounted to Lm1.8 million, a drop of Lm0.5 million when compared to the same period last year.

In the period under review, the quantity of fresh vegetables increased by 300,000 kgs. This was due to an increase in nearly all of the main vegetable crops such as cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, marrows, watermelons, potatoes and tomatoes.

On the other hand, declines in volume were recorded in the supply of dry onions, sugar melons and broad beans, the NSO said.

In the second quarter, the volume of fresh fruit increased by 150,000 kgs (+24.6 per cent). However, the wholesale value of fresh fruit registered a slight drop.

An overall increase in the availability of fresh fruit was due to the abundance of peaches and nectarines, the NSO said.