"If the Government doesn't help the citrus growers overcome
the current crisis, Israel will lose all of her orchards,"
secretary of the Citrus Growers Organization, Yossi Ungar,
warned last week. He spoke at an emergency meeting of citrus
growers held in the Agricultural Center in Beit Dagan.
Ungar said that the government has reached a crucial point
where it must decide if Israel really needs the citrus
industry or not. "If the answer is no, we must admit it so
that the growers can plan for the future. If the answer is
yes, then NIS 60,000,000 must be allocated in order to
enable them to make it through this difficult year."
The emergency meeting preceded a meeting between Finance
Minister Avraham Shochat, Agriculture Minister, Chaim Oron
and the heads of the Citrus Growers Association held on 17
Iyar.
At the meeting, M. Davidson, director of the Citrus Fruit
Marketing Board, explained the reasons for the current
crisis in the citrus industry was because of a drastic drop
worldwide in the prices of citrus this year due to a surplus
of fruit. He stressed that like all other fields of
agriculture, the citrus industry is subject to fluctuating
prices. If the government helps the growers overcome this
year's hardships, the industry will be able to stand on its
feet in the coming years.
Davidson also said that the rate of exchange of European
currency to the shekel made the crisis even worse. He added
that the dock strike, which hurt exporters at the height of
the export season, and last year's bad weather also harmed
the citrus industry.
Davidson noted that the citrus industry is an economically
viable national asset which must be protected. "The industry
employs 45 thousand workers, many of whom come from regions
near development towns where unemployment is high. The
industry generates yearly income of NIS 1.35 million from
work. In addition, the orchards are an asset to the
environment: a prime factor in the preservation of the green
areas of the state, and a barrier to the spread of the
desert from the south," he said.
President of the Agricultural Association, Pesach Gropper,
sharply attacked the Finance Ministry, saying that the only
language its officials understand is that of force. He noted
that the Agriculture Minster is the one who can help the
industry if he so wishes.
