Measures Taken By The Government of Palestine To Increase Agricultural Productivity before 1948 (Nakba),British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 342. Chapter IX: Agriculture: Section 4

CHAPTER IX.

of citrus oils, pectin and alcohol with the object of utilizing completely all products and by-products of the fruit used by them and thus ensuring that the production of juice will be economic.

69. Approximately one million cases of citrus has been taken by the citrus products industry during the past few seasons. In 1944/45 the following quantities of juice were exported to the United Kingdom :

Non-sterile orange juice Non-sterile grapefruit juice

800 tons 150 tons

For the season 1945/46 the Ministry of Food in the United Kingdom have offered to purchase :

Non-sterile orange juice Non-sterile grapefruit juice Sterile orange juice up to

800 tons 150 tons 1000 tons

70. The Citrus Marketing Board will be able to fulfil the order for the 800 tons of non-sterile orange juice but not the order for grapefruit juice since the fruit will not be available after meeting the requirements of the fresh fruit trade. The Board will be able to offer 400 tons only of sterile juice, partly because the fruit is not available over the requirements of the fresh fruit trade and partly because there is as yet insufficient plant. At present (January, 1946) there is only one flash pasteurizing plant in operation. Eight are on order and when they are installed the industry's capacity to produce sterile juice will be increased to between 2,000 and 3,000 tons. It is anticipated that it will be practicable to dispose of this amount in the United Kingdom where demand, given the continuance of child-feeding schemes, might be expected to increase.

Section 4.

MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY.

71. The action taken by the Palestine Government to bring about improvement of the land and in methods of agriculture and generally to increase its yield is of very wide scope and includes both long and short term measures, direct and indirect. Certain of these measures have already been noticed in other sections of this chapter and in other chapters but, before proceeding to the fields of activity not already covered, it wi:; be appropriate to recapitulate the more important of the measures discussed more fully elsewhere.

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