This year, agriculture is leading the total of Albanian exports, and fruits and vegetables continue to have double-digit growth.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Arjan Jaupllari told ATA that, “In the export of fruits during this 7-month period, the group of melons and watermelons experienced the biggest increase”.

“Their export value increased by 33.1% compared to last year”, said Jaupllari.

According to him, “In the period January-July 2022, the export of melon and watermelon products was 1.142.57 million ALL. While in the period January-July 2023, the export of melon and watermelon products increased to 1.520.20 million ALL”.

The increase in exports of agricultural products comes all thanks to the investments made in the agricultural sector, especially for cultivation through greenhouses that create an advantage for Albania.

Albania has about 2,123 hectares of greenhouses and plastic tunnels for the production of agricultural products, of which 1,892 ha of greenhouses with vegetables and melons and 131 ha of plastic tunnels with strawberries and agricultural products.

The agricultural sector is among the sectors with the largest contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, about 18.36%. In Albania in 2013, there were cultivated nearly 125 thousand ha of land, while today the area cultivated with arable and orchard plants is 504.7 thousand ha of land or about 2.2% more compared to 2013.

Thanks to the government’s supportive policies, exports of agricultural products have quadrupled.

Agricultural exports, in total, have grown from about $100 million at the end of 2014 to $500 million at the end of 2022, and are projected to reach over $1 billion in the next four years./p.s./