Antalya exports tons of fruits and vegetables every year as the main fresh production area in the country. Antalya Chamber of Agriculture Nazif Alp: “There are 3 billion square feet of greenhouses in Antalya and there is year around production in the city. However the costs of the growers are too high and they need support from the government. If they can receive support, then they can produce enough products to fulfil all the local market demand.
The costs include fertilizers, seeds, electricity, water, labor costs and pesticide costs, which all add up to between 0.38 USD and 0.75 USD. When you take into account the retail prices and the intermediaries cut, the margins for the growers are quite thin.
The agricultural production in Turkey has already made significant strides in modernization. Now the government is tracking the use of pesticides very closely.
Currently in Antalya, there is a significant amount of production in almost all fresh produce. For instance, 12 million tons of tomatoes are grown in Turkey every year. 4 million of that is grown in Antalya.
There is also a significant gap between the grower price and retail price where tomatoes are sold for 0.25 USD per kg at the grower and 1.25 – 1.5 USD per kg at the retail. Everybody in supply chain claims that their margins are very thin so we need to find out ways to cut down on costs and optimize the supply chain.”
Source: Antalya Ekspres