The Egyptian harvest of carrots gets under way increasing numbers of cultivators are reporting a satisfactory yield in terms of quantity and quality as well being a significant shift in consumer demand – especially from Europe and towards Egypt. This is verified through Zayed Lasheen, CEO of AfriGoodGrows and the producer of Egyptian carrots.
Lasheen says to FreshPlaza: “The carrot harvest was very good this year and we’ve been able to record very large volume. The volume, I believe, has increased by 50% over the previous season. This lets us achieve economies of scale as well as remain efficient in pricing.”
Exporting carrots is relatively new in Egypt but has grown after the conflict across Eastern Europe and rising energy prices in Europe According to Lasheen: “The carrot sector is an important energy user that has lead numerous European countries to choose imports in preference to locally produced products. Egypt was able to stand out due its low costs for production however, the most important factor was its high-quality.”
In this year’s crop “the quality is very good” according to Lasheen. “We cultivate carrots in a sandy desert soils, which ensures that we harvest nematode-free and robust carrots that don’t crack easily. We cultivate the most well-known cultivars, like F1 varieties as well as Jerada. The high quality of our soil helps us achieve excellent yields that can reach 30 tonnes per acres.”
The rise of Egypt in the world of carrots places it in front of most important producers of this crop like Australia, Spain, Turkey and Israel According to the grower. He says “Egypt is a major competitive advantage. The cost of production is less, which enables us to provide our carrots at a price in the range of 40 percent. Additionally, we are able to offer a huge capacity of production in terms size, in addition to the stability of the climate and security within Egypt.”
In the ranks of Egyptian exporters and farmers, AfriGoodGrow in turn enjoys the advantage of being competitive, according to Lasheen “We have kept up to the increasing the demand for our products by increasing our area to 170 ha of harvested land this year. We have made investments by buying a hydrocooler and a vega polisher made by a famous manufacturer and have upgraded our equipment to an output that can handle 3-6 tonnes per hour. Also, we have purchased cold storage equipment as carrots require to be kept in temperatures ranging from 0 to 3 ° Celsius.”
The demand in Egyptian carrots is at an all-time extremely high, with the highest demand coming from UK and in the Netherlands, Russia, and France as per Lasheen. “However we’re experiencing lower demand than was anticipated from the Gulf countries as well as African nations, and Jordan.”
“Demand of Egyptian carrots isn’t merely a matter of luck and is not likely to decrease when energy prices rise across Europe,” concludes Lasheen, “Now that the international market has discovered our carrots I believe that Egyptian is still an important source like with other crop varieties.”
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Zayed Lasheen
AfriGroodGrow
Tel: +420 739 019 060
Email: z.lasheen@afrigoodgrow.com
www.afrigoodgrow.com
Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies