A report prepared by the Agricultural Research Center announced an annual fall in productivity of fruits and vegetables by 70 percent, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, on the back of climate change and increased temperatures.
An example, the report provided, showed that the tomato crop fell from 40 tons per acre in 2009 to 15 tons in 2010, during the harvest season, according to a Beltone Financial note.
The sharp fall in supplies have caused a spike in fruit and vegetable prices, increasing annually by 300 percent, according to the report.
A new planting calendar taking climate change into account has been prepared and is to be presented to the Minister of Agriculture, in order to subdue price rises.
The report revealed a plan to increase production of seed hybrids suitable for different planting dates, especially those able to sustain higher temperatures in order to maintain levels of productivity, Beltone said.
