Greek agricultural production in decline: sharp rise in imports of fruits and vegetables

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Statistics show that Greek agricultural production is in a difficult situation, as according to the Association of Greek companies for the export, distribution and production of fruit and vegetable juices INCOFRUIT-HELLAS, there is a rapid increase in imports of fruits and vegetables.

In particular, in the first five months of this year, imports amounted to 383,324 tons compared to 310,979 tons in the same period last year, indicating an increase of 23.26%. Only in April import fruits and vegetables to the country rose to 88,851 tons against 59,156 tons in the same month of 2023.

According to the association's special adviser Georgios Polychronakis, these figures highlight the real risk of crop failure and supply chains being replaced by cheap imports from third countries, and Incofruit Hellas has in the recent past proposed measures to address market disruptions. According to the data, imports for the five-month period by main types of products were as follows:

• 195,572 tons of potatoes versus 142,347 tons in 2023 (+37.39%), mainly from Egypt, Cyprus, France and Germany
• 117,569 tons of bananas versus 106,088 tons in 2023 (+10.82%) from Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia
• 8,239 tons of onions compared to 19,040 tons last year (down 56.73%) from Austria, the Netherlands, Egypt, Germany and Peru
• 1,392 tons of tomatoes compared to 1,002 tons in 2023 (+38.92%) originating from Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands
• 2,213 tons of pepper/sweet pepper compared to 1,617 tons in 2023 (+36.86%), mainly from Jordan, Israel, Bangladesh and Spain
• 1,893 tons of apples compared to 4,343 tons last year (+173.84%) originating from Skopje, followed by Italy and Poland
• 2,808 tons of avocados compared to 1,977 tons last year (+42.03%) from the Netherlands, Israel and Cyprus
• 1,348 tons of kiwifruit compared to 203 tons last year (+564.04%) from Iran, Italy and Spain
• 4,329 tons of lemons compared to 2,418 tons in 2023 (+79.03%) from Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Argentina and the Netherlands
• 3,700 tons of pears compared to 1,800 tons last year (+105.56%), originating from Italy, followed by the Netherlands, South Africa and Argentina
• 5,961 tons of mushrooms compared to 5,716 tons last year (+4.29%), originating from Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.

As George Polychronakis, Special Advisor to the Association, noted in a statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, these trends indicate “the constant increase in foreign competition both in our country and in other markets in the community.”

He also noted that “it is necessary that fruits and vegetables from third countries meet the same quality standards as those required of producers EUwith equal working conditions and equal use of pesticides”, emphasizing that the Greek control authorities must implement “Strict monitoring of compliance with commercial quality standards and the absence of pesticide residues in imported products on the Greek market, while ensuring that they are not “Greekized”.

Weather phenomena that hit our country

The current picture of the market was described by the President of the agricultural cooperative Pasios-Clementi and ETHEA member Vlassis Tsiogas, who attributes this condition to the unfavorable weather conditions that have hit our country. When asked about the above data, he referred to imports observed in the apple market: “The prolonged rains, high temperatures and drought that have occurred in our country have significantly affected harvests throughout the country, for example in Thessaly (bad weather Daniel) and the Peloponnese (bad weather Elias), resulting in a reduction in available production.

In recent years there has been a decline in harvests, such as apples, while the associated ones now concern a small part of Greek apples, PDO”, – he said, adding that due to these data there is a qualitative shortage, not a quantitative one, since even where there were the required number of apples, they were of poor quality – either due to winds or hail, which led to problems in specific varieties, such as FUJI, Granny Smith, Jona.

Export

In January-March, vegetable exports increased by 3.5% in volume terms compared to the same months in 2023, amounting to 93,372 tons, and by 0.3% in value terms, to 93.83 million euros.

Fruit exports in the first three months of the year decreased in volume by 18.7%, but in value increased by 7.2%, reaching 365,185 tons and 422.146 million euros, thanks to an increase in the average price of 31.9%.

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