Its crop is exported to the West Bank, Arab and European countries
Beit Lahiya strawberries ... "red gold" revives the economy of the besieged "Strip"
The strawberry production season contributes to reviving the local economy.
Emirates today
A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Adham Al-Basyouni.
Emirates today
Farmer Akram Abu Khoussa.
Emirates today
The strawberry production in Gaza holds the Quality Mark.
Emirates today
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Throughout the winter months, the city of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses the harvest of strawberries, which Palestinian farmers describe as "red gold", due to the abundance of large quantities of cultivation over large areas of the agricultural city, which is a center for its cultivation, due to the fertility of its land and the freshness of its water. In addition to marketing it in the markets of the West Bank, and exporting it outside the besieged Strip.
The strawberry harvest begins in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of December of each year and continues until the beginning of March of each year. During this period, the strawberry season provides job opportunities for thousands of farmers, traders, workers and drivers who work in shipping the harvest abroad through the Karam crossing. Abu Salem, south of the Gaza Strip.
In the last year, the area of acres planted with strawberries increased, as a result of many farmers turning to planting vegetables with strawberries, hoping to obtain higher rates of profit, due to the fluctuation of vegetable prices, which may cause them losses at times.
Basic cultivation
Farmer Akram Abu Khoussa, the owner of the most famous strawberry farm in the northern Gaza Strip, waits every year for the start of the strawberry harvest season, to market them in the local markets and export them outside the besieged Strip, in order to improve his living conditions, the conditions of farmers and workers who participate in the cultivation and harvest of strawberries, especially since The Corona pandemic this year posed a great challenge before them, due to the large number of closures.
Abu Khoussa says: “I have been working in strawberry cultivation for decades, and in the Gaza Strip we were able to make a qualitative and developmental leap in the cultivation of red fruits, most notably, hanging strawberry seedlings, which contribute to investing a large area of land and producing more quantities of high quality. ».
The Palestinian farmer goes on to say: “Strawberries represent for Beit Lahia farmers the basic agriculture, because of its high production value, and its contribution to securing the needs of the local and foreign markets. For these reasons, the percentage of strawberry seedlings cultivation increased by more than 800 dunums during the current year, compared to previous years. », And it was revealed that farmers are interested in growing strawberries, as it is one of the few Gaza products that the Israeli occupation allows for export outside the Strip.
In light of the increase in the area of land planted with strawberry fruits this year, and their marketing to the local and international markets, more than 6000 farmers will be freed from the restrictions of unemployment and will get a financial return in return for their work in planting and harvesting strawberries, according to the farmer Abu Khoussa.
Revive the economy
The strawberry cultivation and harvest season is of great importance to the Palestinian local economy, due to its high contribution to bringing about a state of recovery in the markets, in light of the deterioration of economic conditions due to the continuation of the blockade, as it exports its crops throughout the winter to the cities of the West Bank, the occupied Palestinian lands, and Gulf countries. And European.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, Adham Al-Basyouni, said in an exclusive interview with Emirates Today: “The cultivation of strawberry saplings, and the first harvest of their production this year, coincided with exceptional circumstances imposed by the Corona pandemic. Despite this, farmers in the city of Beit Lahiya were able to Cultivating 2,400 dunums of strawberries, and we expect that the harvest production in the current season will reach 7200 tons of strawberries.
He added that «this abundant production of strawberry fruits requires a great effort to market it locally and export it abroad. We have been able to market quantities of strawberry harvest to the West Bank markets, and work is underway to find channels for exporting them, and if the Israeli side allows us, we will export strawberry fruit production. To many countries of the world, as happened last year, when we exported this product to England and European and Gulf countries.
Al-Bassiouni attributes the reasons for the West Bank markets, Arab and foreign countries' interest in importing strawberries from the Gaza Strip, due to the fact that it has many advantages, the most important of which is its early harvest compared to other countries, and its acquisition of the quality mark, in addition to the experience of the Palestinian farmer, which he acquired over the past tens of years, despite facing him Of ongoing occupation practices.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that the strawberry product is of great importance in reducing the high unemployment rates rampant among workers, as thousands of farmers make their living from the profession of strawberry cultivation, while there are job opportunities for hundreds of workers who work in the filling and packaging stations of the product, and the means of transporting it to Local markets and crossings.
• The strawberry planting and picking season is of great importance in the Palestinian local economy, due to its high contribution to creating a state of revitalization of the markets, in light of the deterioration of economic conditions due to the continuation of the siege, as it exports its crops throughout the winter to the cities of the West Bank, the lands of the occupied Palestinian interior, and Gulf countries And European.
Strawberry production is expected to reach 7200 tons this season.
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