The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables increased by 4.1 per cent in the fourth quarter last year while the wholesale value rose by 2.5 per cent over the same quarter in 2010.

The National Statistics Office said the wholesale value of fresh fruit and vegetables increased to €4.4 million.

The supply of fresh vegetables rose by 4.4 per cent to 8.5 million kilogrammes. Increases were registered in the supply of potatoes (+58.9 per cent), cabbages (+11.5cper cent), tomatoes (+10.4 per cent) and vegetable marrows (+4.1 per cent).

The wholesale value of fresh vegetables rose by 3.9 per cent to €4.1 million in the fourth quarter last year.

On the other hand, the supply of fresh fruit decreased by 1.3 per cent, mainly on account of a decline in the availability of oranges (-16 per cent) and sweet oranges (-13.6 per cent).

Similarly, the wholesale value of fresh fruit fell by 13.2 per cent, to €0.3 million.

The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables supplied by Maltese farmers amounted to 8.1 million kilogrammes, up by 4.6 per cent over the corresponding period in 2010. During the quarter under review the wholesale value of fresh fruit and vegetables rose by 4.9 per cent to €4 million.

The produce represented 91.4 per cent of the total supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. Gozitan farmers produced 0.8 million kilogrammes of fresh fruit and vegetables, or 8.6 per cent of the total supply. The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables edged down by 0.8 per cent, while the wholesale value dropped by 14.6 per cent over the comparative quarter in 2010.