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Mangoes in Gaza: Available in large quantities and taste good

Mango has the lion’s share when it comes to the population’s fruits preferences in summer in the Gaza Strip, as it is available in large quantities in the markets, both local and imported.

 

Mango has the lion’s share when it comes to the population’s fruits preferences in summer in the Gaza Strip, as it is available in large quantities in the markets, both local and imported.

 

The Gaza Strip produces 365 tons of mangoes, which makes 8% of the needed quantity in the coastal enclave, while 92% of mangoes are imported from Israel, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza this year.

 

Although the occupation left behind farms planted with mango trees, such as farms left behind at the former Nitsarim settlement, Palestinian farmers were able to plant dozens of acres and to produce new varieties of mangoes, which impacted the availability and the quality of mangoes in the market in a positive manner.

 

Limited production
The harvest season begins in the Gaza Strip in the middle of July and lasts about three months and includes various types of mango produce such as Maya, Hayden, Kent, Indian, Jet, Tommy and other types, with different sizes and tastes.

 

“The mango plantation in the former Nitsarim settlement is the most successful one among the cultivated areas in Gaza because of its relative distance from the sea and its low geographic location,” said Mohammed Al-Naqa, the director of the Department of Horticulture at the Ministry of Agriculture.

 

He added to the PIC, “The area cultivated with mangoes in Gaza is 395 dunums, of which 285 dunums are productive and 110 dunums are unproductive. Mango is a tropical tree that needs high temperatures and fresh water, and cultivated areas near the sea are affected by the high percentage of water evaporation and the salty water of the sea that harms the new buds due to the lack of windbreakers.”

 

Sanabel Farm
The sun occupies the middle of the sky at the mango plantations of Sanabel, south of Gaza City, as workers spread among trees to pick the ripe mangoes up and place them in boxes.

 

Mohammed Juha, a manager at Sanabel, who rented a 250-dunnum mango farm from the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the production for this season is abundant and that the average production per tree is 70-100 kg.

 

He notes, “We market our produce at a sale point on the coastal road, and there is a trader who bought most of the quantity from our company, and prices vary between 5-6 shekels per kilo, and increases to eight shekels when borders are shut down.”

 

Juha is proud of the Haydn mangoes, as well as other varieties such as Tommy, Jet and Kent, which are grown up in tropical regions such as India and Africa.

 

Mango trees need around the year care, irrigation and pesticides, the most important obstacle facing mangoes in Gaza is the lack of fresh water due to electricity blackouts.




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