STORY: Gazan farmer dreams big on dragon fruit cultivation
DATELINE: Aug. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:53
LOCATION: GAZA, Palestine
CATEGORY: AGRICULTURE
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of Aaed Abu Ramadan and his assistant on the farm
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): AAED ABU RAMADAN, Farmer in Gaza
3. various of Aaed Abu Ramadan and his assistant on the farm
 
STORYLINE:
 
For the fourth year in a row, Aaed Abu Ramadan, a Palestinian farmer from the coastal enclave, has harvested dragon fruit, also known as "pitaya," and marketed his produce in local markets.
 
The 52-year-old father of six came up with the idea of growing dragon fruit in Gaza five years ago when he saw it for the first time in China.
 
He bought about 800 seedlings of dragon fruit with 10,000 U.S. dollars from merchants who used to visit China, and cultivated them on his 500-hectare farm.
 
He succeeded in harvesting about 150 kg of dragon fruit in 2020.
 
SOUNDBITE (Arabic): AAED ABU RAMADAN, Farmer in Gaza
"Dragon fruit is native to South America, and was transported to Southeast Asia, where its inhabitants excelled in its cultivation. After I saw this fruit, I wanted to transfer it to Gaza. I made several attempts to bring the seeds officially through Israel, but Israel rejected that under the pretext that the Gaza Strip is a hostile entity. Therefore, I resorted to bringing it to the Strip by asking some merchants to buy it and bring it here. It took years to increase the percentage of production of this fruit, to make it a qualitative addition to the Gazan economy."
 
Abu Ramadan usually sells dragon fruit at the price of about five U.S. dollars per kg.
 
He also expressed his hope to expand his dragon fruit farm in the near future.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza, Palestine.
(XHTV)