Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 139)
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- Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 139)
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The drop in cultivated
1
733 tons.
at 419,358 donums producing 29,
area, however, has been accompanied by 2 no
62 kilograms per donum.
ticeable increase in
Productivity rising from 72 to 1
more significant in Israel and Jordan;
Wheat production is far
69,000 tons (in 1978)
the former is estimated to have produced 1
2
and the latter 53,300 tons.
Table (vII - 3)
Area, yield, and total output of wheat
(1980)
District Area (don) yield (kg/don) Output (,000 tons)
Total 230, 516 168 38,733
Jenin 47,220 200 9,444
Tulkarm 36,355 170 6,180
Nablus 35,380 170 6,015
Ramallah 33,415 180 6,015
Jerusalem 1,500 95 142
Jericho 8,230 330 2,716
Bethlehem 13,255 150 1,988
Hebron 55,161 113 6,233
Source: Files of the Department of Agriculture.
Economic and nutritional significance
According to data available from official sources, the share of
Wheat in gross agricultural income is estimated at 3.1 percent
(1980 )3, This shows that the relative weight of this crop in
West Bank agriculture is quite modest, particularly in comparison
2,
Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1979, p 9, and Agricultural
Statistical Yearbook of Jordan, 1979, p 57.
3,
Administered Territories Statistics Quarterly 1980, Vol 1-2, p 102.
Tk
267
with other types of rainfed agriculture, such as major types of
fruit trees. But due to the Pronounced concentration of wheat
farming in certain parts of Hebron and Jenin (24% and 20% of
Output, respectively), it is in fact very important at the
local level in those areas.
Wheat is consumed mainly in the form of bread. According to
the food balance sheet of 1979, wheat products contribute 47
Percent of all caloric per capita intake, 52 percent of proteins,
and 8 percent of fats.! The corresponding ratios in Israel are
34 and 4 percent.” This is a clear indication of the critical
importance of wheat in the local diet. In fact bread is by far
the most important single food item in the West Bank, and it may
be so as well in other parts of the Middle East. It should be
emphasized, however, that increased consumption of bread is due
™ore to the much higher prices of other complimentary of alternative
food items (eg. meat and rice) rather than to the choice of
Consumers, Improvements in the standard of living, especially
in urban areas, have been accompanied by a sharp decline in per
pita consumption of bread.
Consumption and exports
The annual consumption of wheat flour is estimated (for 1980) at
85,100 tons, i.e. 123.7 kilograms per capita, as compared to 100.4
in Israei.? This means that the West Bank produces less than half
°f its wheat supply, and the rest is imported, currently from
Ibid, p 102.
a Statistical Abstract of Israel 1980, op cit, p 280.
%, Ibid, p 102 in the Quarterly and p 279 in the Abstract. - تاريخ
- ١٩٨٢
- المنشئ
- Hisham Masoud Awartani
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