Citrus production volume up 25% 2023-24

Local media report that the forecast for the 2023-24 citrus harvest for the country as a whole is 360,000 tonnes, up 25% on the previous season.

 

However, according to Imed El Bey, President of the Union régionale de l'agriculture et de la pêche de Nabeul, a member of the Groupement interprofessionnel des agrumes, a number of major challenges remain, such as fruit size. This early season shows a predominance of small fruit (around 50%), a large share of medium-sized fruit (30%) and a small share of commercial-sized fruit (20%).

 

While the volume produced is encouraging, solutions need to be found to improve fruit size in order to boost exports. Last season, according to the Observatoire National de l'Agriculture, Tunisian citrus exports totalled just 7,604 tonnes, mainly to France, Libya, Kuwait and Qatar.