These changes are the result of area being shifted from grapefruit towards the production of oranges and the fact that some mandarin varieties, such as Minneola (Mineola), Nova, Merav and Topaz, met with limited success in the Israeli market and were subsequently uprooted. Furthermore, producers faced low prices for all but red grapefruit from February 2016 to the end of the marketing year.
The area harvested of oranges and mandarin/tangerines is expected to increase in coming years as additional young orchards come into production. Easy peeler mandarins and tangerines make up the bulk of planted area, estimated at 9,000 ha, or 48 percent of total citrus area. The Or/Orri mandarin is the most common variety planted in Israel, currently covering 5,600 ha or 29.6 percent of total planted area.
Other easy peeler mandarin or tangerine varieties account for 3,400 ha. Areas planted with orange is adjusted up this year to 4,260 ha, or 23 percent of total area, while lemons, limes and other citrus remain virtually unchanged from 2014/15 estimates.
As for production, it was down in MY 2015/16 by 42.4 TMT, reaching only 507.6 TMT. This decrease reflects movement away from high yielding grapefruit to easy peeler tangerine and mandarin varieties, as well as damaging weather in the spring of 2015 and low yields due to alternate bearing among some mandarin/tangerine varieties. Post expects production to rebound in the MY 2016/17 harvest due to stable weather conditions.
Local consumption of fresh citrus is set to increase to 206 TMT, or by 5.6 percent, in MY 2016/17. Much of this increased demand is driven by hotels, restaurants, and cafes that are expanding sales of fresh squeezed juices. The increased domestic demand for fresh fruit is creating competition for the local processing industry.
Israel’s citrus trade is stable for lemons/limes and oranges but is expected to grow for easy peeler mandarins and tangerines destined for the European market. Shipments of red grapefruit to Asian marketsare also expected to expand. Total citrus exports were of 157 TMT in MY 2015/16, which was 4 percent lower than MY2014/15. Two varieties accounted for 70 percent of total citrus exports: red grapefruits 45 TMT and Orri mandarins 65 TMT. The bulk of exports were shipped to the EU, followed by Russia and Ukraine.
