In Ashkelon, a southern Israel farming center bordering the volatile Gaza demarcation, the potato planting season is just starting.
The region is the food basket of Israel, accounting for a third of all vegetable production in the Middle-East country. Potatoes from the region represent 40% of all national consumption.
In 2021, Israeli potato production hit 509,000 metric tons (MT), of which 222,000MT enjoyed domestic consumption. 19% went to industrial use, 4.3% served as seed, while 33%, equal to about 169,000MT were exports.
In the 2022-23 market year ending June 30,2023, the export value for Israel’s potatoes rose to 200,000 tons.
Meanwhile, so important are potatoes to the nation’s agricultural economy, that they accounted for 48% of vegetable exports in 2021.
But that is all changed with the start of the war. In kibbutz farmlands in the south, farmers have only six hours a day to work their fields under guard..
Farming activity is all but at a stop by military orders in a 4-kilometer radius next to the Gaza border. Hence, gardeners have had to abandon their potato fields.
War aside, Israel is making an attempt to look for new ways to replenish its vegetable garden. With Palestinians, who make up 50% of farm labour force in Israel gone, the agricultural heartland is wasting away. The country is already importing tomatoes from Turkey and adding bonuses to foreign workforce returnees.
Israel’s Agriculture and Consumption: a country profile
Israel has two main agricultural kibbutz regions, namely the south and the north. While the south, near the northern Gaza border produces potatoes, the north, near the southern Lebanese and Syrian borders is a fruit haven.
Northern farms make up 40% of the state’s sub-tropical fruit production. They also produce about 70% of eggs nationally, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In terms of consumption, the per capita for potatoes in Israel is below 50% that of the European Union. While Israelis eat 35 kg per year, Europeans consume between 80 and 100 kg of potatoes per annum.
Potato Varieties in Israel
Israel boasts over 60 potato cultivars, both common and new inventions. The most popular are as fancy-looking as their names. Red-skinned potatoes include Mozart, Desiree and Memphis, among others.
The yellow-tinged potato varieties have girlish names, ranging from Nicola and Charlotte to Celtia. The white-skinned ones have both masculine and exotic names that include Tyson and Sifra.
Potato by Popularity and Cost
Israelis best like white potatoes whose cost in 2021 averaged Israeli New Shekel (NIS) 3.81 ($0.94) a kilo. In comparison, the red-tinged types, which are less popular, cost dear at NIS 4.55 ($1.13) a kg, per 2021 figures.
The cost of Israel’s potatoes decreased by 4.2% in 2021 on the wings of higher production, which stayed put into 2022.
By June, 2023, farm gate price for potatoes in Israel had risen by 10% while exports breached the 200K-ton mark.
What does 2023 auger in pricing terms in the midst of war? Potato prices have since notched from a minimum of $0.74-0.94 to NIS 3-7 ($1.19-1.73) per kg by October, 2023.