Vegetable prices fall below production costs in Jordan

Vegetable prices in the Amman Central Market, especially tomatoes and potatoes, have fallen below production costs, which will result in large losses to farmers, according to a source in the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruits and Vegetables (JEPA).
In an interview with Petra on Sunday, President of the JEPA, Saadi Abu Hammad, voiced his support for the agriculture, interior and transport ministries' procedures that assisted the entry of Iraqi refrigerated trucks containing fruits and vegetables into Jordan in order to increase the exports of these products in the Iraqi market, including allocating special line for such trucks and increasing the number of border personnel for this purpose.
He also stressed the importance of accelerating these measures, to allow entry of a larger number of refrigerated trucks, which would increase the Kingdom's exports of vegetables into Arab and foreign markets.
The JEPA president also noted that several trucks carrying Jordanian vegetables into Iraq have been detained at the Jordanian-Iraqi border due to the reluctance of Iraqi officials, which will cause large losses to farmers and exporters because the quality of the produce will be affected.