Interprofessional Group for Fruits

Presentation:

In application of Law n°84-93 dated 26/07/1993 regarding Interprofessional Groups in the agricultural sector and agri-food industries and Decree n°1165/94 dated 23/05/1994 concerning the approval of the statutes of Interprofessional Groups in the agricultural and agri-food industries, the creation of an Interprofessional Group for Fruits occurred following the merger of the Date Group (GID), the Citrus and Fruit Group (GIAF), and the Vine Group (GIVI).

The Group is a public economic entity with civil vocation and financial autonomy. Individuals and legal entities who qualify as producers, processors, or exporters in the fruit sector are considered affiliated and beneficiaries of its services.

The Group is managed by a board of directors, with one-third of its members being representatives of the administration, one-third from UTAP, and one-third from UTICA.

General Missions:

• Ensure coordination between the different links through which products pass using a value chain approach, while encouraging producers to integrate into the chain and promoting collaboration between producers, processors, and merchants through production contracts.
• Facilitate discussions between professionals and the administration when setting objectives for different sectors.
• Contribute to market regulation using appropriate mechanisms in collaboration with private operators and professional and administrative structures.
• Promote the quality of products and their marketing while assisting professionals in integrating and advancing scientific and technological progress.
• Contribute to the promotion of product exports in collaboration with private operators and professional and administrative structures.
• Collect, analyze, and archive information, set up databases relating to the sectors under the intervention of GIFruits, and conduct necessary studies to assess the national and international market situation.
• Carry out any other tasks assigned by the Ministry of Supervision.

Main Interventions:

Production Promotion:

• GIFruits offers producers a program encouraging the expansion and rejuvenation of citrus plantations.
• GIFruits provides producers with saplings of new citrus varieties to diversify the offer and spread out production periods to better meet both domestic and international market demands.
• GIFruits provides virus-tolerant citrus saplings to producers, grafted onto rootstocks resistant to the “Tristeza” virus.
• GIFruits manages national tree nurseries to contribute, in collaboration with concerned parties, to the preservation of national arboreal heritage.
• All plants supplied by GIFruits are produced in its nurseries across the country.
• A modern nursery in Kasserine was established for the production of apple tree saplings, with an expected annual production of 200,000 saplings.

Phytosanitary Protection:

GIFruits monitors the health of fruit trees and organizes pest and disease control campaigns through various specific programs and interventions in collaboration with relevant services.

• GIFruits has implemented an integrated pest control program against fruit flies in citrus plantations using both chemical and biological methods.
• GIFruits combats citrus leaf miner infestations to protect young citrus plantations, ensuring optimal production conditions.
• GIFruits addresses the “Citrus Black Spot” (CBS) through an urgent action plan, covering 4,000 hectares, acquiring necessary fungicides, and equipping the Ministry of Agriculture’s laboratory for analysis.
• GIFruits also employs biological control against the date moth on pomegranate trees.
• GIFruits uses a GIS system to closely monitor natural phenomena and major events in various sectors.
• Mise à la disposition des producteurs de certains intrants à des prix préférentiels au Dépôt central du G.I.Fruits à El Gobba.

Quality Promotion:

• GIFruits has a laboratory to assist producers with product analysis, wine classification, and monitoring fruit ripening indices.
• GIFruits has established a network to promote fruit quality and processing, aimed at safeguarding production quality. This network contributes to defining technical and commercial standards for products and inputs across various sectors and encourages professionals to adhere to them. It ensures:
  • Diagnosing, studying, proposing, and monitoring the intrinsic quality of the production.
  • Studying and updating the areas of Controlled Designation of Origin (AOC) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and encouraging production according to these quality labels specific to the production zones.
  • Improving the application of specific quality labels for products at the commercial level.
• Informing and raising awareness among producers about the importance of quality labels and the procedures for obtaining them.
• Assisting producers in obtaining quality labels.
• Supporting professional organizations around quality labels.
• Promoting products that benefit from quality labels.
• Promoting production zones.
• Connecting producers with national and international decision-makers for the commercialization of their products.
• Agrotourism.

Technical Support and Training:

GIFruits provides training sessions for stakeholders in various sectors, covering:

• Quality promotion.
• Packaging.
• Marketing.
• Adoption of new storage techniques.

Export Campaign Organization:

• Campaign preparation.
• Agreement on organizational decisions for the campaigns.
• Monitoring campaign progress.
  • Monitoring export operations: quantities, prices, markets.
  • Intervening when necessary to resolve difficulties and ensure smooth campaign operations.
• GIFruits participates in international events and offers exporters the necessary support and guidance to encourage participation.
• GIFruits helps connect exporters with foreign buyers by inviting purchasing decision-makers and participating in commercial days abroad.
• GIFruits promotes the Tunisian fruit and wine sector by placing advertisements in specialized professional magazines.
• GIFruits organizes promotional days in Tunisian hotels and holds tasting sessions to promote the consumption of local products among tourists.
• GIFruits develops and distributes advertising materials to reach the widest possible audience.
• GIFruits explores new markets and conducts promotional campaigns in promising traditional markets in key cities of target countries.
• GIFruits closely monitors export campaigns for various fruits through its commercial representation in Marseille.

Regional Representations of GIFruits

GIFruits operates four productive tree nurseries located in the following areas:

• El Gobba Nursery (Nabeul Governorate):
  Its total area is 19.6 hectares, with 1.5 hectares dedicated to the production of virus-free citrus saplings and grafts, and 17.1 hectares for the production of grafts and cereals.

• Oued Mliz Nursery (Jendouba Governorate):
  Its total area is approximately 55.6 hectares, with 10 hectares of old citrus plantations and 40 hectares of new citrus plantations.

• Sabikha Nursery (Kairouan Governorate):
  Its total area is approximately 19.2 hectares, with 10 hectares dedicated to the production of grafts and 0.5 hectares for citrus and fruit tree saplings.

• Kasserine Nursery (Kasserine Governorate):
  Its total area is approximately 6.5 hectares, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 plants.