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Almonds: the nut with the highest relative growth potential

August 25, 2017 at 9:54 AM , Starry Night Ltd.
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The exclusive nut has always commanded a high premium. Cultivated acreages on a year-to-year basis increased by 72%.

SOFIA. The exclusive taste of the locally grown nut, indeed that of the organic almond, and the higher premium that it commands have shifted the focus of local farmers toward the cultivation of more almond orchards. Another strong reason is the fact that for years, local supply fails to meet local demand, and as a result the gap is filled by imported almonds, usually from the USA.

Almonds: focus is firmly on cultivating more acreages

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2015 farmers harvested 574 ha of almond orchards while in 2016, almonds were collected from a total area of 987 ha; the difference is 72%. During season 2015-16, farmers collected 424 mt of the crop in shell while during season 2016-17, the estimate stood at 841 mt. On a year-to-year basis, the change stood at 98.3% in favor of the most recent season.

However, one should be careful with the latter figure since the previous season was a disaster – for all nuts throughout the country, with minor exceptions in some regions – and high quality kernels, those that really reached the local and/or foreign markets, according to substantially established local sellers, were small in quantities. Weights of in shell nuts differ from those of pure kernels, even more when the kernel has not been fully matured or is dried, etc. because of a weak season.

Anyhow, the return of investment in almond orchards is characterized by a long-term span horizon since on average, it takes five years before an almond tree could fully realize its harvest potential. The rest is a weather factor!

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