Supply of fruit and veg grows, value drops

The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables in the fourth quarter of last year increased by 4.7 per cent, whereas the wholesale value decreased by 17.8 per cent, when compared to the corresponding period in 2008, the NSO said today.

The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables passing through the official markets in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose to 9.3 million kilograms over the comparative period of the previous year. On the other hand, the wholesale value of fresh fruit and vegetables registered a decrease of 17.8 per cent from €4.67 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 to €3.84 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The supply of fresh vegetables grew by 4.5 per cent from 8.4 million kilograms in 2008 to 8.8 million kilograms in the quarter under review.

An increase was registered in the supply of Cauliflowers (+13.5 per cent), Vegetable Marrows (+35.5 per cent), Dry Onions (+8.2 per cent) and Lettuce (+9.4 per cent). On the other hand, the supply of Cabbages and Tomatoes declined by 10.7 and 14.0 per cent respectively.

The wholesale value of fresh vegetables amounted to €3.45 million, a decrease of 20.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2008. During the quarter under review, the supply and wholesale value of fresh fruit rose by 8.6 and 20.4 per cent respectively, on account of higher quantities of Grapes and Pomegranates.

The wholesale value of fresh fruit increased from €0.33 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 to €0.39 million in the fourth quarter last year.