Malatya Apricot Growers Association President, Rahmi Semiz said, “ The apricot growers need to move together instead of complaining about their products being sold for too cheap. Our association’s representatives are doing everything their power in the capital Ankara and lobbying for our benefit. Everybody needs to stop complaining and start taking responsibility. The growers need to cooperate with each other. Apricot production is the lifeblood of Malatya's economy. As a united front, we should all push together for government incentives for apricot production and the establishment of licensed storage and packing facilities.
Malatya is one of the best apricot growing cities in the world. The growers should stop blaming the middlemen for low prices. We had meetings with different ministers from the government and they have all stated their support for us. We need to go to them with proposed solutions. We also need to act together to have consistent production, organized marketing and control of the supply in the market and to demand balanced price levels in the marketplace.”
Source: Haberturk