Addis Ababa, Jan 5 Ethiopia has earned more than $216 million from exports of horticultural commodities during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the country's Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration has disclosed.
The East African country exported 39,225 tonnes of flowers to the international market, earning over $186 million during the first five months of the current Ethiopian 2024/2025 fiscal year, which started on July 8. Flower exports secured the largest share of the total revenue generated from the export of horticultural commodities during the reported period, the ministry disclosed in a statement issued on Friday.
The country also exported 71,305 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to the international market, generating more than $30 million.
The ministry said the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom are the top three destinations for Ethiopia's flower exports, while Somalia, Djibouti, and the Netherlands are the top three destinations for vegetable exports.
According to recent data from the ministry, Ethiopia has generated some $2.63 billion in export revenue during the first five months of the current fiscal year amid strong performance in major agricultural export commodities, Xinhua news agency reported.
Horticulture is a field of agriculture that encompasses the science and technology of production, improvement and consumption of crops, which includes vegetables, fruits, spices, condiments, herbs, aromatic and ornamental plants.
To obtain desirable agricultural outputs, these crops require immense care, attention and protection at various stages of planting, growing, harvesting, packaging, storing and processing. Plants are affected by various types of diseases such as viral, bacterial and fungal, which are responsible for massive losses and reductions in agricultural production.
As fruits and vegetables furnish us with essential nutrients to fulfil our daily energy requirements, control and management of plant nutrition and diseases have been a subject of great interest for many years. To reduce and avoid huge economic losses, control of pathogens and improvement of new varieties of crops that are resistant to diseases have been vastly undertaken through the application of genetic engineering techniques, chemical pesticides and insecticides.
These are needed to boost growth, and immunity and prevent ailments among horticultural crops. These agrochemicals are low-cost, have a broad spectrum of action, and are easy to apply. This has led to improved plant defences and a drastic reduction of endemic diseases, resulting in the generation of higher yields contributing to economic development.
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