Kamil Donmez, the chairman of Chamber of Agriculture in the Gursu district of Bursa, a city situated in northwestern Turkey, explained the current situation regarding agricultural production in the area.
Donmez: “The pears have been maturing and right now there is around a 50-60% maturation rate. In the Santa Maria variety of pears, due to climate conditions we will lose 30 % of our production. If there is no frost in the upcoming days, then that will be our only significant loss.
In peach production, we have no problems and our peaches are growing at a very good pace and quality. If there are no unforeseen weather conditions such as frost, we will have plenty of peaches available.
The growers are still experiencing commercial problems. We are all dependent too much on middlemen and those really dictate the terms of the market. Our growers also have problems in collecting their payments and some still have not received their payments from last year. The growers need to act together and force their terms. Our costs are increasing significantly, our pesticide costs are up by 40 %, the energy costs are continuously increasing as well. We can not keep the prices at this level anymore without going bankrupt. Our main problems are on the commercial side, not the production side. The margins are getting thinner every year for growers as costs keep increasing, whereas prices stay stable. Some growers have already started getting out of the business.”
Source: Olay