Yusef Abu Daher, a produce grower from Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank, decided five years ago to grow avocados on his land instead of vegetables in a greenhouse. New prospects for marketing avocados inside and outside the Palestinian territories and their price, which is steadily higher than for other crops, make them an attractive fruit to grow. Abu Daher is among some 400 producers in Qalqilya governorate who have opted to cultivate avocados, the harvest of which begins this month.

Abu Daher opted for avocados because planting is easier and less costly than for other traditional crops and because avocados maintain the same price throughout the harvest season, selling at no less than seven shekels ($2) a kilo on the local market. Other drivers include the high demand on the Palestinian market and prospects for export.

Abu Daher grows a variety of avocados over 30 dunams, annually producing 150 tons of the fruit on average. The only obstacle he has faced are weather-related diseases, which has required him, and other farmers, to draw on the knowledge of a Palestinian laborer who works with avocados on Israeli farms.

Ahmad Eid, director of the Qalqilya bureau of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Agriculture Ministry, said that the potential economic profitability of avocado growing has indeed come to the attention of the ministry. In fact, he asserted, the ministry had trained agricultural engineers to impart information to growers as part of a plan developed 10 years ago to increase avocado cultivation.