Mango Prices Expected to Surge as Israel’s Crop Is Forecast to Drop by About 70%

Israel’s mango industry is facing an especially severe blow just ahead of summer. According to industry estimates reported by the Davar website, this year’s output is expected to fall by about 70% to only 25,000 tons.

Mango orchards in northern Israel, which produce about 85,000 tons in a typical year, suffered heavy damage this year because of a combination of the “inflorescence distortion” disease and extreme weather changes that harmed flowering and fruit set. The disease, caused by a fungus, leads to the development of distorted, dense inflorescences that do not bear fruit. According to Elkanah Ben Yishar, chairman of the Mango Growers’ Board, this is a known phenomenon, but this year it spread unusually in many orchards and mainly affected the Kensington Pride variety.

Alongside the disease, growers say weather damage was an even more significant factor. The spring season was marked by sharp swings, with hot, dry months alongside cold, rainy periods that hurt the trees’ ability to flower normally and turn blossoms into fruit. Ben Yishar said there are entire orchards that will not be harvested at all this year.

Mango orchards in Israel cover about 24,000 dunams, mainly in the Kinneret perimeter, the Jordan Valley and the Lower Galilee. At KANAT, the fund for insuring natural damage in agriculture, estimates of compensation to mango growers due to the drop in yield will reach about 15 million shekels. That is three times the average annual amount over the past decade, which stood at about 4.5 million shekels.