It is important for vegetable, fruit, and berry producers to know which horticulture products are growing most significantly in the world since the demand for those products is constantly increasing. Today, the fastest-growing position in terms of world horticulture exports are avocados. Avocado sales in monetary terms are growing by $780 million annually. This information was presented by Andriy Yarmak, an economist for the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), during the national online conference “Horticulture of Tajikistan – the best investment niches,” which was held on March 16, 2021.

The event was organized by the EastFruit project with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The partner of the event was the agro-media agency Sapienza.

Mr Yarmak noted that along with avocados, the volume of world blueberry exports is increasing annually by 14%, which in monetary terms is $500 million. Also, bananas, sweet cherries, and raspberries round out the Top-5 positions of world horticulture exports.

Among the products whose world trade is declining the fastest, there are popular positions for investing now such as almonds, apples, garlic, and even kuraga (dried apricots). “However, this does not mean that there is a decrease in the consumption of these goods or even a decrease in their sales. The drop in world trade is only an indicator that there is likely to be pressure on prices in these segments,” explained the FAO economist.

For producers in Tajikistan, the main target audience of the conference, Andriy Yarmak recommended using niche approaches in their search for investment-attractive horticulture products. He also gave the example of Morocco, a country with climatic conditions very similar to southern Tajikistan. He explained that Morocco learned how to effectively find attractive horticultural niches and that “Moroccan exports of fresh berries in the winter reached $500 million and greenhouse tomatoes were $800 million. Neighbouring Uzbekistan earned $70 million from greenhouse tomato exports and Turkmenistan earned $30 million. Meanwhile, Tajikistan continues to import greenhouse tomatoes.”

Read also: Avocados on the rise in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Georgia

Mr Yarmak named some attractive horticulture niches for investment in Tajikistan. Among them were the production of frozen and dried fruit and vegetable products, year-round cultivation and exports of fresh berries, cultivation of seedless early grapes for exports, premium quality large-fruited cherries, greenhouse vegetables, and various types of nuts. For apples specifically, he recommended focusing on growing early apple varieties for exports.

The FAO agricultural market export cautioned that in the course of planning one or more investments in the horticulture business, it is completely unacceptable for a producer’s business plan to be drawn up by sellers of seedlings. Business plans should be prepared by independent specialists. “It is also important to understand that product pricing announced in business planning, as a rule, should assume pricing for modified and finished products. Usually, business plans have had costs for the production of raw materials only. Investments in product refinement are often more expensive than investments in cultivation, but this is often forgotten. Marketing also costs money. Products do not sell themselves but many people forget about this also. Remember, unlimited demand for any product does not exist in nature – demand is always limited,” summed up Andriy Yarmak.

Below is a video of the full version of Andriy Yarmak’s presentation:

Сообщение Avocados are the fastest growing position in world horticulture exports – Andriy Yarmak появились сначала на EastFruit.

Interruptions in the supply of imported tomatoes to the Polish market due to unfavourable weather conditions contribute to an increase in prices for these products in Poland, according to analysts of the EastFruit project. The key market players reported that the upward price dynamics in the segment of imported tomatoes was established in Poland even before the Christmas holidays.

The main reason for the rise in the price of greenhouse tomatoes was the consistently high demand in conditions of limited supply since the supply of this product from Morocco and Spain was unstable and in smaller volumes. At the same time, local tomatoes were practically not on sale due to the seasonal factor.

Read also: Heavy snowfall delays exports of Georgian mandarins to Russia

To date, imported tomatoes from Morocco go on sale at $0.93-1.33/kg, which is on average 10% more expensive than at the end of last year. Meanwhile, Spanish tomatoes have risen in price by an average of 46% since the beginning of January and are currently offered for sale at $1.87-2.39/kg.

It should be added that, despite the price increase, imported tomatoes from Morocco in Poland today are on average 34% cheaper than in mid-January 2020. Tomatoes produced in Spain, on the contrary, rose in price by an average of 11% over the year.

Сообщение Supply disruptions drive up prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Poland появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, Russia continues to be the world leader in terms of importing mandarins and their analogues (clementines, tangerines, satsuma, etc.) by a wide margin, despite the decline in volumes and imports observed in recent years.

In 2019, Russia imported 713,200 tons of mandarins, significantly less than in 2014 when the country imported 847,000 tons of these citrus fruits. However, the second place in the world ranking belongs to Germany, having imported more than two times less than Russia, namely, 346,000 tons of mandarins. Other leaders in terms of import volumes are France, the United States, Great Britain, and Ukraine.

Besides, unlike Russia, Ukraine continues to increase its imports of mandarins. In 2014, Ukraine imported 158,000 tons of mandarins and a record volume in 2019 of 180,300 tons.

Partially, this decline in imports of mandarins to Russia is explained by the so-called “anti-sanctions”: Russia cannot purchase fruits in the EU countries because of the ban. At the same time, Ukraine continues to buy large volumes of mandarins from the southern countries of the European Union, such as Spain, Greece, and Italy. Russia, in addition to Turkey, buys mandarins from Pakistan, China, Morocco, and Georgia, which significantly narrows the possibilities of importing premium quality fruits. Therefore, traditionally, Belarus is engaged in re-exporting citrus fruits from the sanctioned regions to Russia.

Read more: Cheap mandarins from Pakistan most affordable fruit in Tajikistan

It is interesting to note that in the first ten months of 2020, Russia dramatically increased its imports of mandarins. Morocco provided the main increase in supplies: in 2020, deliveries of mandarins from Morocco to Russia increased by 59%. Pakistan and Turkey also increased their export volumes. Mandarins’ supplies to Ukraine also increased in 2020, but the growth rates of imports were lower than in Russia.

Сообщение Russia is world leader in mandarin imports, despite drop in volume появились сначала на EastFruit.