After a long dry spell, Algerian tomato production is displaying interesting results thanks to the support provided by the government. "After production was devastated by bad growing seasons, this sector has started reaping the fruits of the sustained efforts made to revitalise it. Hence the importance of continued efforts with a view to achieving the coverage of national needs while reflecting on the export of this fruit" indicated Sid-Ahmed Ferroukhi, Algerian minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing.

According to the official who was talking to APS, the sector is expected to produce 1.2 million metric tonnes of fresh tomatoes and about 90,000 metric tonnes of tomato paste.

According to Messaoud Chebbah, president of the Tomato Industry National Council, this last figure is triple the level of production observed only a few years ago, which was stagnating at 30,000 metric tonnes. "500,000 jobs have been created thanks to this new dynamic in the industry" he emphasised.

Indicators which led Mr Ferroukhi to claim that the time has come to start thinking about exporting the Algerian tomato to international markets.