Cabbage growers in the Yenişehir district of Bursa, Turkey, report losses after large volumes of cabbage remained unsold in the fields. While cabbages are sold in city markets in Bursa for 50 to 70 lira (US$1.52–US$2.13) per head, growers say demand has been limited in production areas about 60 kilometres away.
Yenişehir is a vegetable production and export region. Producers there report that hundreds of hectares of cabbage have remained in the field without buyers. Growers have called for Agricultural Credit Cooperatives to purchase produce during periods of oversupply.
Göksel Akkuş, a farmer in the Menteşe neighbourhood of Yenişehir, said he planted cabbage on about 8 hectares (converted from 20 acres) this season. He previously sold cabbage harvested from about 4 hectares at a lower price than expected.
He said cabbage grown on the remaining 4 hectares remained unsold and had begun to rot in the field. According to Akkuş, production costs for those hectares were about US$6,087 (converted from 200,000 lira).
Akkuş said the crop should have been harvested earlier, but traders did not purchase the product.
"The cabbages should have been harvested 1-2 months ago. Traders did not buy them, citing excuses like there being little demand. Prices in the market range from 50 to 70 lira. One person bought from me for 10 lira and sold it online for 40-50 lira. Last year was very good. The price was 15-17 lira each, and traders did not leave us alone. This year, it is currently 3 lira, but no one is buying that either. Traders are not looking at us this year. I bought the seedlings for 5 lira. If I could sell them for 8 lira, I would have covered my costs, but it didn't happen."
Akkuş said the remaining crop will likely be incorporated back into the field as the next planting season approaches.
"Instead, I want to plant another product to recover my losses. I will chop the cabbage with my tractor shortly and plow the field. Right now, 25,000 cabbages are lying in the field. These cabbages will be fertilizer for the field. All our efforts and money will mix with the soil."
Growers say Agricultural Credit Cooperatives could purchase surplus production and supply the product to the market during periods of oversupply.
Trader Fevzi Aksu said the situation has affected traders as well.
"I also buy but cannot sell. The government needs to provide support. Agricultural Credit Cooperatives can buy and evaluate this product. When the product is scarce, imports are made, and when there is a lot, it needs to be taken from the field. 25,000 cabbages are going to waste, which is a shame. In Yenişehir, similarly, hundreds of acres and hundreds of thousands of cabbages have rotted in the fields," he said.
Source: Harberler
