Morocco’s exports of fruits & veggies cross one-million ton threshold

Despite the current global difficult situation triggered by covid-19 pandemic, Morocco’s exports of fruits & vegetables crossed this season the million-ton threshold, increasing by 6 pc to 1,077,000 ton.

According to Moroccan ministry of agriculture, this shows the good performance and resilience of the local agribusiness which continues to expand and diversify its high quality and competitive output.

The export of Moroccan tomatoes went up by 4 pc to 514,000 tons this farming season. The sales of Moroccan red fruits to overseas market also rose by 25 pc to 82,500 tons. The same upward trend has been seen in the export of watermelon which soared by 61 pc to 104,400 tons, while that of avocado almost tripled to 32,800 tons.

However, exports of citrus fruits fell by 28 pc due to the drop in production. The exports of processed of Moroccan agricultural products increased by 17 pc this season reaching 299, 000 tons against 255,800 tons recorded same period last year.

Morocco’s agricultural sector contributes 19 pc to the national GDP and employs over 4 million people including about 100,000 in agro-industry. It plays a key role in macroeconomic balances of the country and earns a living to 80 pc of the 14 million rural people, although it has suffered from low investment and low productivity.