Israel’s 2026 mango season is opening this week in the main growing areas around the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley and the Beit She’an Valley, but growers are facing a dramatic crop shortfall. Official estimates put this year’s harvest at only about 30% of the orchards’ potential, after a 2025 season that produced unusually large volumes but created major marketing problems.
At the "Tzaf Avocado" packing house of the Tzaf cooperative, fruit from growers in the Sea of Galilee, Jordan Valley and Beit She’an Valley will be processed. Tzaf CEO Moshe, known as Shiko, Domovitz said last year export markets were hurt by boycotts from some foreign retail chains and by very high tariffs on Brazilian mangoes, which had traditionally gone to the United States but were redirected to Europe and crowded out Israeli fruit. He also said the inability to send fruit to Gaza, a traditional outlet for surplus produce, was a serious blow.
This year, Domovitz said, the situation is reversed. "The markets abroad are waiting for Israeli mango, Gaza is open to fruit imports, and we expect a season with very high prices," he said, adding that the lower volume may still be partly offset by strong demand. A veteran farmer from Moshav Ramot in the southern Golan said his output could fall from 96 tons last year to only 15 to 20 tons this season, while some neighbors near Almagor are describing the crop as a total loss.
Growers blame the collapse on extreme spring weather, including heat waves, cold spells, heavy rain and unusual humidity that damaged flowering and left many small, unmarketable fruits on the trees. The mango sector covers about 24,000 dunams and normally yields around 85,000 tons, with most production concentrated near the Sea of Galilee and the Beit She’an Valley. This year’s output is expected to reach only about 35,000 tons, pushing retail prices sharply higher in Israel and abroad. A parallel research effort led by Dr. Navot Galpaz of MIGAL’s Northern Research and Development Center found that 30% to 40% shade nets can reduce heat stress and fruit damage, and Kibbutz Masada has now installed Israel’s first mango shade-house on about 50 dunams in hopes of stabilizing production in future years.
