Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

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Current (above) and potential (below) land use categories (ha). Disturbed Forest 53,000 673,000 Irrigated Land 28,000 Rain-fed Land 472,000 10,000 6,967,000 Barren land 4,047,000 Water storage in micro-dams for irrigation. (A) Elabered Farm, one of the most famous old horticulture and dairy large scale farms established by Italian investors. (B) Sawa Farm, one of the recently established large scale farms. Disturbed Forest 53,000 10,000 Cultivable land 2,100,000 Browsing & Grazing 5,979,000 Irrigable land 600,000 Barren land 4,047,000 Seasonal river that flows through the potential horticultural lands. Different citrus species and cultivars at Halhale Research Station. Drip irrigation unit with submersible pump at Afhimbol Farm, one of the newly established large scale horticultural farms. Williams banana from different farms in the Gash-Barka region. ISHS • 22
Lettuce production for export at Elabered Farm. (A) Field covered with plastic mulch and (B) seedling production under plastic tunnel. HORTICULTURE Eritrean farmers have long practiced horticulture. However modern horticultural production was introduced during the Italian colonial period (1891-1941). From 1954 to 1960, immense lands were developed for horticultural production and many large commercial orchards and vegetable farms were established. Horticulture reached a peak in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of banana, citrus, sweet pepper, cucumber production for export to markets in the Middle East and to Europe. However, this sector was devastated by the 30 year conflict with Ethiopia (1961-1991), and is still affected by continued border conflicts. After independence was achieved in 1991, horticultural development programs were launched including construction of dams and roads, establishment of irrigation schemes, support for farm equipment and inputs, and human resource development. The Ministry of Agriculture has been focused on training programs to improve human capacity-building. At present horticulture is divided between small holders but a number of large-scale farms have been established in recent years. In 2003 there were about 12,500 ha devoted to vegetables and 1000 ha to fruit trees. Production was estimated at 114 thousand tonnes for vegetables and 14 thousand tonnes for fruit with a value of US$ 20 million. The horticultural sector is hampered by low capital and technology inputs; non-improved cultivars; poor cultural practices including land preparation, fertilization, weed control, irrigation, and pest and disease control; problems in postharvest handling and marketing; poor management practices; and recurring drought. Thus, production of most horticultural crops is below regional and world averages. Although Eritrea enjoys a range of climate zones that would permit the cultivation of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and medicinal plants, production has not yet satisfied the domestic markets. Yet with more than 600,000 Some of the fruit crop species that have potential in Eritrea. (A) Grape, (B) Avocado, (C) Annona, (D) Strawberry. Seed potato field at Adi-Mengoti and harvest day at Maedo, Debub region. ha of land with a potential for irrigation there is a huge potential for increased production and export to outside markets. At present only 28,000 ha are irrigated. With the importance of horticulture in increasing the health and welfare of the population and its potential for economic development, the horticultural subsector is considered as a priority area in the Eritrea development program. ABOUT THE AUTHOR A B Brhan Khiar Saleh Brhan Khiar Saleh is the Head of the Horticulture Research Unit in the National Agricultural Research Institute in Halhale, Eritrea and is a member of the Technical Committee for Horticulture in the Ministry of Agriculture. email: brhan200220@yahoo.co.uk C D CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 45 • NUMBER 3 • 2005 • 23
Page 1 and 2: Chronica HORTICULTURAE Volume 45 -
Page 3 and 4: NEWS FROM THE BOARD Horticulture, H
Page 5 and 6: ❚ The First International Symposi
Page 7 and 8: Figure 1. Cruciferous vegetables as
Page 9 and 10: sure. Despite these limitations, so
Page 11 and 12: esource, and at worst a potential r
Page 13 and 14: studies of traditional processing t
Page 15 and 16: HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE NEWS The Plas
Page 17 and 18: An example of the industrial greenh
Page 19 and 20: Table 3. Average greenhouse structu
Page 21: THE WORLD OF HORTICULTURE Horticult
Page 25 and 26: Czech Republic, countries of the fo
Page 27 and 28: Green pepper variety for fresh cons
Page 29 and 30: New Books, Websites The books liste
Page 31 and 32: Courses and Meetings The following
Page 33 and 34: An example of selection line of Org
Page 35 and 36: Section Nuts and Mediterranean Fift
Page 37 and 38: Procedure of fruit infiltration und
Page 39 and 40: Section Tropical and Subtropical Th
Page 41 and 42: Commission Quality and Post Harvest
Page 43 and 44: Field Tour The participants visited
Page 45 and 46: Hee Choi, Seong-Tae Choi, Tae Choon
Page 47 and 48: NEW NEW Prof. Dr. W.H. Schnitzler,

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