Cucumber growers in the central part of Israel began disposing of hundreds of tons of cucumbers last week, due to the massive oversupply in the local market.
According to Hazi Daniel, a cucumber grower from Ahibtub in Israel's central coastal plain, they are disposing of up to 300 tons per day, and sending only some 200 tons to market. Before moving to destroy the crop, the cucumbers were offered to various charity organizations, which have already received more produce than they can handle.
The cost of growing in this region comes to roughly 0.70 Euro per kilo. At this time last week, cucumber prices in the local market were around 0.50 Euro per kilo. Daniel estimates that the high level of supply is a result of importation, especially from the Palestinian territories. Import from the territories is relatively small, but "in periods of high supply, every additional truck can lower the prices in the market. Sometimes an oversupply of 3% drops prices by 30%."
Israel has recently eased restrictions on imports of various vegetables, despite criticism from the local agriculture sector. Daniel says that "there is an understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture that when cucumber prices are over 1 Euro per kilo, it is possible to open up the market for import. This should work in the opposite direction as well, so that when prices are low the market is closed for imports."
The farmers dispose of the produce in one of two ways, either letting them dry in piles in the sun after harvest or simply by cutting down the plants before they can produce more crop. Despite the damages, farmers are not seeking compensation, but would only like to have a level playing field in the market.
