During the fourth quarter of 2015, Gozitan farmers contributed 0.7 million kilogrammes of fresh fruit and vegetables, equivalent to 8.4 per cent of the total supply.
The National Statistics Office said today that in volume terms, Gozitan produce advanced by 7.0 per cent, while the wholesale value increased by 10.2 per cent.
On a national level the volume and wholesale value of fresh fruit and vegetables increased by 0.5 and 9.5 per cent respectively over the comparative period in 2014.
The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables sold through official markets amounted to 8.5 million kilogrammes, yielding €4.8 million. This represented an increase of 0.5 per cent in weight and a 9.5 per cent growth in the wholesale value over the corresponding period in 2014.
Fresh vegetable supply went down by 0.1 per cent to 8.1 million kilogrammes. Drops of 22.4, 13.5 and 11.3 per cent were registered in the supply of potatoes, cauliflowers and cabbages respectively. In contrast, the wholesale value of fresh vegetables increased by 8.2 per cent to €4.3 million.
The supply of fresh fruit advanced by 15.1 per cent, mainly on account of an increase in the availability of lemons and oranges by 34.6 and 26.2 per cent respectively. The wholesale value of fresh fruit went up by 25.0 per cent to €0.4 million.
The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables supplied by Maltese farmers edged down by 3,156 kilogrammes over the corresponding quarter in 2014. Maltese farmers supplied 7.8 million kilogrammes of fresh fruit and vegetables or 91.6 per cent of the total supply. The wholesale value of such produce went up by 9.4 per cent, from €3.9 million to €4.3 million.
The quarterly All Items fresh fruit price index increased by 7.58 points (8.9 per cent) to 92.88 points over the comparative quarter in 2014. The respective volume index went up by 7.79 points (15.1 per cent) to 59.51 points.
The quarterly All Items fresh vegetables price index advanced by 9.22 points (7.9 per cent) to 126.28 points. In contrast, the respective volume index decreased by 0.08 points or 0.1 per cent to 78.97 points.
Photograph: Alain Salvary