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Jordan blames Israel, Iran for drop in vegetable prices
Local farmers say Iran slowly taking over Iraqi produce market, while reduction in price of imported Israeli fruits and vegetables led to reduced prices of all produce sold at local markets
Jordan has reported a 25-50% drop in the price of fruits and vegetables at its main markets, including in the capital Amman, due to an increase in supply.
The price drop has forced some local farmers to sell their produce to animal farms below cost, while others have simply given up on harvesting their fruit altogether.
Sources in the Hashemite Kingdom claim that the rise in supply stems from last winter's unique weather conditions, which saw a period of heavy precipitation followed by a hot spell.
The sources also reported of a drop in the export of Jordanian produce to neighboring countries, mainly Iraq. According to Jordanian farmers, Iran is slowly taking over the Iraqi fruits and vegetables market at Jordan's expense.
Meanwhile, Jordanian newspaper al-Sabeel, the mouthpiece of the opposition that is opposed to the normalization of ties with Israel, said the increase in supply is due to the flooding of local markets with Israeli produce.
The newspaper said that large amounts of carrots, avocados, pumpkins and persimmons grown in Israel have recently been exported to Jordan and sold at its markets. According to the report, since the beginning of the year Israel has exported to Jordan some 25,000 tons of carrots, 65,000 tons of avocado and 186,000 tons of persimmons.
Al-Sabeel further claimed that the demand for Israeli fruits and vegetables has decreased due to their "Made in Israel" labeling. This forced Jordanian importers to lower the price of Israeli produce, which led to a drop in the price of all produce sold at the local markets, the report said.
Doron Peskin is head of research at Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd.
