TIRANA, June 25/ATA/ Albania is among the countries with the highest share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at about 20%, while it contributes about 36% to employment growth.
IPARD program under the National Support Schemes are supporting agricultural producers and processors to introduce the modern technology and techniques. The national scheme supports projects that bring an added value to the sector, increase competition and promote agricultural processing.
According to INSTAT official data, despite the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, vegetable production reached almost 1.3 million tons, marking an annual increase of about 3%, compared to 2019.
In the group of vegetables, the representative crops are tomatoes, which occupy over 35% of the volume, cucumber about 13% and peppers over 11%.
The production of vegetables in greenhouses represents 21.81% of the total production of vegetables, of which 50.86% of this production grown in the region of Fier. Greenhouse production has increased by 5.18%, compared to a year ago. While 65% of the vegetables have been produced in Berat.
The production of fruit trees is estimated at 274 thousand tons. The highest level of production of fruit trees is recorded in the region of Korça reaching 82,007 tons.
According to INSTAT, olive production increased by over 34% reaching 132 thousand tons of olives, compared to a year ago.
Also, citrus production increased by 5%. According to INSTAT data, the production of citrus in 2020 reached over 49 thousand tons. While over 65% of the total production of citrus is occupied by tangerines.
Exports of agricultural products in recent years have quadrupled to $ 400 million from $ 100 million in 2013. The area of arable land has also doubled. //a.i/
