Garlic Production Up But Most Important Fruits and Vegetables Down

In just the first half of last year Croatia imported 44 million USD worth of vegetables and 88 million USD worth of fruit, that comes after the year previous when 118,724 tonnes of vegetables worth 117.3 million USD, and 173,843 tonnes of fruit, worth more than 182 million USD were imported…

Production of a number of important fruit and vegetables are on the decline. According to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, in 2014 there was a decrease in the production of the following compared with the previous year: melons (39%), lettuce (37%), cucumbers and gherkins (15%), white cabbage (24%), tomatoes (19%), red peppers (12%), green beans (16%), plums (75%), sweet cherries (68%), olives (74%) and grapes (26%).

Supermarket shelves are now increasingly filled with a large amount of imported fruit and vegetables, including potatoes from Austria and Holland, tomatoes from Jordan and beans from Argentina and Kirgistan.

According to the data an increase was recorded in the production of the following crops in 2014: carrots (58%), onion and garlic (32%), green peas (23%), watermelons (18%), beetroots (8%) walnuts (90%), mandarins (61%), sour cherries (24%) and peaches and nectarines (2%).

Economists say that currently Croatia only produce enough wheat, eggs and wine for its own market, with everything else needed to be imported. Croatian farmers struggle to compete on price or can produce enough quantity for what is a relatively small Croatian market.