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Frozened Fruit Fruit growers are being forced to destroy 60,000 dunams of fruit and citrus groves - about 10% of all fruit groves in Israel irrigated with potable water - because water allocations have been slashed by 40 million cubic meters, according to Ilan Eshel, director of the Organization of Fruit Growers in Israel. According to the organization calculations, the sector's annual output could drop by 150,000 tons, and farmers revenues from the sale of fruit are likely to be hit by NIS 100 million annually. Consumers will feel the ramifications in the cost of fruits in 2009, when they rise by 35% to 50%, and for some fruits, 100%. The orchards that are expected to be hardest hit are those irrigated with potable water. These include apples, pears, cherries, mango, figs, loquats, lychees and bananas which are cultivated in orchards in the Jordan Valley. Such fruits are grown for the most part in the Upper Galilee, Golan Heights and northern valleys, areas where there is almost no treated waste water or other alternatives for watering orchards. AdvertisementEshel says that the orchards, particularly citrus orchards in areas where there has been a gradual change over to treated waste water for irrigation, will not be hit as hard. The Fruit Growers Organization has demanded compensation from the agriculture ministry of NIS 3.50 for every cubic meter of water allocation cut, a total of NIS 120 million. Eshel says that the compensation will enable fruit growers to cooperate with the government in its water budgeting plans. "If there is no decision to compensate," Eshel threatens, "we could find ourselves in a position where no one wants to be. Farmers will be forced to fight for their livelihood, and the water cuts will be executable only by physical force." Eshel called on the treasury to recognize its own responsibility for the condition of the water economy, following delays in construction of water purification plants and conduits for delivery of treated waste water for irrigation purposes. "As long as the treasury continues to drag its feet in discussions over compensation and clear decisions are not reached, fruit growers will continue to use water to irrigate groves that may soon be uprooted" Eshel said. Fruit prices are one of the factors behind the soaring consumer price index. Lemons for instance have risen by roughly 50% in a matter of months.