Syria Ranks High in Citrus Production and Quality

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Dec 22 2009

Syria Ranks High in Citrus Production and Quality

Citrus production in Syria for the current season amounted to around 1,050,000 tons, with 135,000 tons of lemon, 215,000 tons of mandarin, 660,000 tons of orange and 40,000 tons of grapefruit.

Statistics show that production has been increasing each year, with production in 2008 amounting to 1,046,456 tons produced by 12,500,000 trees planted on approximately 37,521 hectares of land.

Most of this production comes from Lattakia governorate (the Syrian coast), which produces around 860,000 tons of citrus and providing income for around 400,000 peoples. Tartous governorate produces around 175,000 tons, while Homs produces around 5,473 tons.

According to Director of Lattakia Department of Agriculture Hassan Baddour, Syria ranks second among Arab countries in terms of area used for cultivating citrus and third in terms of production, coming after Egypt and Morocco.

Syria also ranks 20th in the world in citrus production, with the estimated world production amounting to around 100,000,000 tons.

Syrian citrus has competitive qualities in terms of variety, color, flavor and quality according to the French Consumers Association.

Statistics show that in 2006, Syrian citrus exports to Arab countries amounted to USD 5.5 million.

SANA