As reported on 21 January, Jordanian farmers destroyed their tomato crops in protest of their losses, the farmers have begun to take the same action again: around 2,000 farmers in the southern Jordan Valley are destroying tomato crops in a show of anger over a season they claimed has been unprofitable, harmed by low prices in the local market and the difficulty of exporting to neighbouring countries.
Emad Zakariya, one of the farmers, said they started destroying tomato crops because of mounting losses.
"I have a 30-dunum farm and it costs me JD10,000, which I was forced to borrow. So far, I have not earned more than JD1,000, so tell me how I am going to pay back the money," he told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday 1 February.
Zuhair Jweihan, president of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables, said a box of tomatoes sells for JD0.32 to JD0.50, describing the situation farmers are dealing with as a "disaster".
"It is also difficult for us to export goods because the main markets for us are Syria and Iraq and it is difficult to transport the goods there following the crisis," he said.
Jweihan recalled that the Syrian and Iraqi markets used to consume 400,000 tonnes of tomatoes per year from Jordan in the past.
Jweihan said there is also difficulty in exporting tomatoes to the Arab Gulf markets due to the long wait time for visa procedures for the drivers.
Ministry of Agriculture Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said most sectors were negatively affected by the closure of the borders, including agriculture.
"The government is exerting its utmost efforts to help support the farmers and find alternative markets such as the Russian market. Also, on Sunday we exported 1,100 tonnes of tomatoes to the Gulf market and on Saturday we exported 700 tonnes," he told The Jordan Times over the phone.
(1 Jordanian Dinar=1.41 USD)
Source: jordantimes.com