‘Agriculture Ministry to continue reaching out to new markets’

AMMAN — Efforts are under way to revive the agricultural sector, which has suffered from the ongoing closure of its biggest markets in Syria and Iraq,  a senior government official said on Tuesday.

"There is much focus currently on opening the Russian market for the country's fruit and vegetables," Agriculture Minister Rida Khawaldeh said, adding that several meetings had been held over the past week with different agencies to address challenges to marketing agricultural produce.

"We are working on facilitating the export of fruit and vegetables to Russia to ease the congestion in Jordanian markets.  On the other hand, the Gulf countries are exporting sizeable quantities, which stood at 4,300 tonnes of produce on Monday; a promising figure and a good indicator," Khawaldeh said in a meeting with journalists. 

The government has been negotiating to open the Russian market to agricultural produce since 2014. Several official visits have taken place to address challenges, including the transport of goods and the customs duties imposed by Russia.

Khawaldeh noted that he has joined the Prime Ministry's economic committee to work with several government agencies to explore new markets, address obstacles to exporting produce and to attract investors to the agricultural sector.

The ministry will follow a "participatory approach" to address farmers' concerns, he said, underscoring that the agricultural sector needs support to help farmers retain their source of income and also to attract Jordanians to the sector to replace guest labourers.

Some 95 per cent of agricultural workers are guest labourers, he noted.

The minister also called for the automation of the sector and the farming process, which he said would reduce costs and yield higher quality produce.

The sector witnessed a 24 per cent drop in exports of fruit and vegetables in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2015, according to ministry figures.

Syria and Iraq used to consume nearly two-thirds of Jordan's vegetable produce. 

The Karama-Turaibil crossing on the border between Jordan and Iraq, the gateway for Jordanian produce to reach Iraqi and European markets, was closed in the summer of 2015.

Khawaldeh said he hoped the crossing would reopen soon but did not confirm recent reports that the reopening of the border is imminent.  

Also in 2015, Jordan closed the Jaber border crossing with Syria for security reasons, while Ramtha, the other border crossing with the war-torn country, has been closed for nearly five years.

Some 1,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, worth millions of Jordanian dinars, used to be exported every day to Syria and Lebanon, according to the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables.