During the first half of 2016, Gozitan farmers contributed 1.6 million kilogrammes of fresh fruit and vegetables or 7.0 per cent of the total supply. In volume terms, this produce increased by 8.1 per cent, while the wholesale value went down by 5.7 per cent over 2015, the National Statistics Office said today.

On a national basis the volume of fresh fruit and vegetables increased by 9.1 per cent, whereas the wholesale value declined by 2.0 per cent over the comparative period in 2015.

The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables sold through official markets amounted to 22.4 million kilogrammes, yielding €12.6 million. This represented a growth of 9.1 per cent in weight and a 2.0 per cent drop in wholesale value over the corresponding period in 2015.

Fresh vegetable supply went up by 10.2 per cent to 21.2 million kilogrammes over 2015. Increases were registered in most of the supply of vegetables mainly, eggplant (44.4 per cent), watermelons (25.4 per cent), carrots (20.2 per cent) and vegetable marrows (18.7 per cent). In contrast, the wholesale value of fresh vegetables decreased by 2.0 per cent to €10.6 million.

The supply of fresh fruit declined by 7.5 per cent, reflecting drops in almost all fruit under review, with the exception of lemons, oranges, and strawberries which increased by 43.2, 10.0 and 4.0 per cent respectively. The wholesale value of fresh fruit decreased by 1.9 per cent to €2.0 million.

The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables supplied by Maltese farmers marked an increase of 9.2 per cent over the corresponding period in 2015. Maltese farmers supplied 20.8 million kilogrammes of fresh fruit and vegetables or 93.0 per cent of the total supply. The wholesale value of such produce went down by 1.6 per cent, from €11.7 million to €11.5 million.

Between January-June 2016, the All Items fresh fruit price index increased by 1.88 points (1.3 per cent) to 141.41 points. The respective volume index went up by 83.74 points (85.1 per cent) to 182.20 points.

The All Items fresh vegetables price index declined by 18.75 points (13.5 per cent) to 119.81 points. In contrast, the respective volume index increased by 9.53 points or 10.2 per cent to 102.78 points.

Photographs by Alain Salvary

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