HOW AN ISRAELI FARMER BECAME THE RAINMAKER OF MANGO EXPORTERS?

By Dr.Nimrod

*In my articles, I address general phenomena. Mention of a country/continent is used for illustration purposes only.

A question: if you are a mango grower, do you make 50,000 € per hectare?

A fact: did you know that a typical Israeli mango grower is making 50,000 €/ha?

If you are making 1,000 €/ha less than 50,000 €/ha, then you are losing every year 1,000 €/ha multiply by the number of hectares that you have. How much do you lose on your farm?

Be assured that I wouldn’t write this if it were losing only 1,000 €.

As we all know, many African and Asian mango exporters are making less than 15,000 €/ha. Meaning they lose every year 35,000 €/ha!

Fortunately, exporters have big farms, sometimes 100 hectares. So what is their total loss? 3,500,000 € per year, and 35,000,000 € for ten years.

These numbers are scary!

Is it real? Could it be that mango exporters, even the best in their country, are losing so much money?

By the way, what will happen if the country of those exporters, in an instant, becomes under Export Ban!? How much will those past-exporters lose when the best markets are banned?

In reality, most mango growers are marketing their produce on the local markets or to processors, making less than 2,500 €/ha.

They are losing 47,500 €/ha, and if they have 30 hectares, they are losing 1,425,000 € every year and 14,250,000 € for ten years.

In practice, once you complete the transformation, you can grow in 1 ha what you produce today in 20 ha. Twenty (20) times more!

No matter how much the government will subsidize the farmers, it will never be enough to recover that colossal loss.

African, Asian, and other farmers will continue to lag and lose as long as that gap remains.

“Change begins with a decision that the existing reality is not a decree of fate.”

The only way to “fix” that crazy reality is by taking the necessary and required measures and actions to change the fact itself.

As a former organic and conventional fruit grower in Israel, I know how it feels when you lose much of your yield and income. In my case, it was due to fruit fly infestation.

My first step towards success in my own orchards began by getting fruit flies under effective control, without sprays.

Getting fruit flies under complete control is a mandatory requirement for improving the fruit industry and, in particular, fruit exports.

To enable others to control fruit flies better is why I went to university and invested 14 years in fruit fly study and research.

Then I founded Biofeed and invested 16 years more to develop the most advanced spray-free fruit fly solution, so that fruit growers around the world will have a chance for a better livelihood.

Thanks to this, everywhere in Africa and Asia where we had field trials, we were able to instantly reduce the fruit fly infestation by over 90%, without spraying!

Thus, leading to an immediate increase in income by tens and sometimes even hundreds of percent.

Fruit growers’ ability to increase income by tens or hundreds of percent is the change that African and Asian farmers have been waiting for ages. I am bringing it today to the mango growers and later to other growers.

A HEARTBREAKING STORY

It was June 4th, 2019, and I had all the reasons to be satisfied on that day. After all, I just finished a long trip visiting many fields and farmers in Togo and Ghana.

Although many of the orchards where I was working were small, we managed to get until the end of the harvest with a fantastic low fruit fly infestation; only 0.1% to 1.0%.

YES, so low, only 0.1% to 1.0%!

We received these results without using a single spray, while in the neighboring orchards, farmers were spraying, using traps, sanitation, and… suffering 50% to 80% fruit loss.

YES, so high 50-80%!

The value of the lost yield 50-80% with the cost of growing it, is higher than the income they received! In some cases, there were no buyers for such produce.

I wasn’t surprised by our Export Quality results. Instead, I was content and happy because, once again, we managed to help farmers protect their yield and increase their annual income.

That Tuesday of June 4^th, the Israeli embassy in Ghana had organized together with the Ghanaian Ministry of Agriculture a summit, “GHrow-IL: Re-engineering Ghana’s Agribusiness Ecosystem.”

I was invited to give there a short talk, then held a private meeting organized by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, with the Minister of Agriculture H.E. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who is also a mango grower.

The talk and the meeting went well, and as I walk towards Biofeed’s booth, thinking to myself, “what a wonderful day,” and then I noticed a man in his 60s approaching me.

He had many questions for me. I answered politely, sharing with him our field results. I could notice the astonishment on his face as he burst into tears and shared his story with me.

At the end of the harvest season, farmers should be happy, but this farmer was not. This person just lost all his money because of unsuccessful fruit fly control!

He told me that a few years ago, he retired from the public service. He was happy when he invested his pension funds, although against his wife’s advice, into buying and growing a mango farm.

The Ghanaian mango grower, who lost everything – versus the 50,000 €/ha income of a typical Israeli mango grower. Is this a decree from heaven? Is it impossible to close that gap?

This person was a scholar, and he told me that he did everything the experts told him to do.

However, this year, like the ones before, the fruit flies infested most of his yield, and he ended up with grave losses.

He ran out of savings, and the bank is not ready to help him anymore. He was left destitute, and he does not know how to tell this to his wife. He is embarrassed and ashamed.

What a tragedy! That should never happen to any grower.

TIE BREAK

Farming is a particular type of industry; it is meant to create food while improving the livelihood of those who engage in it.

I am lucky because wherever I go, I see the farmers’ smiling faces, which we helped.

Unfortunately, most mango growers around the world have little reasons to smile.

Most mango growers hardly make more than they invested, while others make even less than invested. This is how social gaps, poverty, and hunger are created.

I dream and work to bring the day when this will become a faraway history.

For most mango growers (and other crops), fruit flies are the leading cause of crop loss and loss of ability to earn a living.

If I could give one advice to fruit growers is;

Please, do not think of growing any crop sensitive to fruit flies unless you can effectively control it. Best if you can prevent its damage below 1%, that is, export quality.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE TARGET

When it comes to farmers, the goal is to improve their income. Getting fruit flies under effective control is the primary key to reach that goal, but it is not the goal itself.

African and Asian farmers growing crops other than mango suffer low income just as the mango growers.

Why? Because they are dealing with a complex multi-system failure.

To step forward into a better future, we need to encounter and simultaneously cope with all the failures.

The solution we developed to face this challenge better is the Green Valley multi-layer Package.

Do you see why there is a need for a Package and why things will not change without the Package?

Fruit flies are like a “chronic disease, ” killing you if you neglect it. Therefore, as I did in my orchards and all the orchards I deal with ever since, I start by addressing the fruit fly problem. Starting elsewhere is a waste of resources.

That is why Green Valley deals with the entire value chain but puts fruit flies as its first top priority.

By ridding from fruit flies, we immediately increase the marketable produce and regain the trust of trading partners, enabling us to reach premium markets with growing quantities.

One of Green Valley’s mission is to help farmers recover the tens of thousands of € they lose every year because of working with inadequate tools.

For the first time, the leading tools (technology, knowhow, models, protocols, etc.) are consolidated into an easy to access and easy to use toolbox as part of the Green Valley package.

As long as farmers do not control fruit flies, fruit flies control farmers’ fate, and there is no business hope for mango growers. The same is true for farmers growing other crops susceptible to fruit flies.

The Fruit Fly Certified Trade Zone (FFCTZ) protocol is part of the Green Valley package and its golden key to answering the threat posed by fruit flies.

WHAT IF I DON’T EXPORT MANGOES, YET?

Regardless if you export or not, Green Valley will engage and support farmers to increase their income only after they successfully addressed and solved their fruit fly problems.

Why?

Because any investment you or we will make before that step will be a complete waste of resources: labor, money, and time.

Hence, our first and highest priority in any intervention will be to ensure fruit flies’ effective control by applying the FFCTZ protocol.

If your income today is 2,000 € to 10,000 €/ha, it means that you are losing 40,000 to 48,000€/ha. WOW, you have to be very rich to lose such an amount.

Dear farmer, you have a hole in your pocket, from which your money is pouring out faster than you imagine. You got to fix it as soon as you can, starting by applying the FFCTZ protocol for effective fruit fly management.

Green Valley (GV) Package for mango growers who do not export. A series of well-designed steps started with applying the FFCTZ protocol and improved other indicators: fruit quality, premium markets, improved yield, and branding.

Let’s assume that your yield is less than 10,000 kg/ha, and you suffer 50% to 80% fruit fly infestation, although you harvest pre-mature mangoes and before the rain.

With such results, export markets are not even an option, and so you are limited to sell in the local markets or to fruit processing factories.

None of those options offer you the economic outcome you would like to see and the peace of mind you deserve.

Now you have two options; to make the necessary changes, get yourself ready to export, or not act and stay where you are.

If you chose to change so, you could export in the future, then ask yourself if a business target of 31,370 €/ha is too challenging for you?

Why my first target for you is 31,370 €/ha?

Because the 31,370 €/ha goal is challenging, yet possible to achieve on your journey to becoming a successful exporter and on the way to 50,000 €/ha.

I understand that the Green Valley program is not suitable for all mango growers.

My team and I are investing a tremendous amount of our time and money into each farmer’s success in taking part in Green Valley.

Therefore, we carefully chose the ones who will participate in the initiative and implementation.

Who can apply?

Because of the early phase of the program and the high expenses involved, the Green Valley program is opened only to farmers who can assure their full commitment to the program and have over 30 hectares.

Furthermore, due to time constraints, this year, it is limited to two countries only (not final yet).

THE ELITE TEAM

If you are a mango grower that is exporting and making over 10,000 €/ha, then you hold a chance to become a member of the Green Valley Elite Team.

As a member of this Elite Team, you will get full support and access to technologies, protocols, field support, funding, etc., to help you to increase your income to 50,000 €/ha, and stop the bleeding and the insane income loss of 20,000, 30,000, or 40,000 €/ha, every year.

If you are part of the Exporters’ Elite Team, you have over 50 hectares of mangoes, and your current income is maybe 20,000 €/ha. Hence, your annual total income lose is 1,500,000 €/ha (20,000 €/ha X 50).

Real-life financial loss is not the difference of the income] minus expenses & cost of living]. If you calculate your loss this way, you will always stay where you are or become even more destitute.

If you look to cover your costs, you will remain poor. By the way, how much do you value your work? I mean, how many €/day do you pay yourself or get paid?

Many farmers calculate their labor/time as if it was zero (0). Yes, they calculate as if their time has no value! Did you ever encounter such phenomena?

I expect the Elite Team growers to value their time and hence benchmark their income against that of the world’s best mango growers.

By becoming among the best in their country and worldwide, they will earn 50,000 €/ha and set an example to their fellow growers who struggle to do the same.

Here are some questions that will help you clear up your ambitions and learn about yourself and how suitable you are to take part in the Green Valley Elite Team –

» Are you happy with your current business results?
» Do you think you can’t do as well as the best in your industry can?
» Do you think you are less smart, capable, or diligent than anyone else in your field?
» Are you sure it is impossible to reach the 50,000 €/ha goal in your country?
» Are you afraid of “impossible challenges”?
» Do you think you can learn from others?
» Are you against sharing your knowledge with other farmers?

If you answered YES on one or more of the questions, then you are not yet ready to join the Exporters’ Elite Team of Green Valley.

However, if you passed that test, you can apply for taking part in Green Valley Elite Team when we initiate it in your country.

WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT

I understand that each farm and farmer are different. Therefore, we will need to adjust the program to each farm and farmer. This adaptation is done based on the specific data, requirements, and agreed goals with each farmer.

Green Valley package is made as a flexible toolbox, starting with applying the FFCTZ protocol.

Thanks to the Package concept, we can take farmers so fast, so far, into a future that they can only dream about otherwise. The secret is in the Package.

I will closely monitor each farmer’s progress to ensure he is reaching his potential and reaching his goals.

However, we have no intentions of replacing the grower. A grower who is not ready or is personally not fully committed will not achieve his goals.

For that reason, I will personally contact and support each of the farmers taking part in the 2021 program.

Green Valley package for the Elite Team members is open this year for ONLY THREE (3) personally committed mango growers, each having over 50 hectares. In 2021 we also limit ourselves to only two countries (not yet final).

In 2021 we may choose a single country where we open the option of applying Green Valley with mango growers that are not yet exporting. In such a case, it will also be open to a limited number of mango growers.

In 2021 each of the growers will get my mentorship, which is why we limit the number.

Whether you export or not, whether you are a mango grower or leading farmers, contact me if you wish to be among those who will lead the Mango Export Revolution in your country.

Make sure to add relevant details. If our team sees that we can’t work with you this year, we will save your info when it becomes relevant.