Cabbage yields have been lower in Bursa this year which has resulted in higher prices. Farmers in the Celtikci neighborhood (Inegol, Bursa) have already started to harvest their crops.
Despite the cold weather, harvesting continues in Bursa's Inegol district. The price of cabbage is 0,4 to 0,5 Turkish Lira (less than 0,1 Euro) per kilo. Relatively higher prices are welcomed by the farmers despite the lower yields. Farmers request the government to decrease the input costs and make it easier for them to export cabbage.
Cabbages are seeded in July and the harvest started in December. Cabbage producer Sadullah Yaman said: "Currently our product is good, however the volume is lower than last year. Since the costs were high and sales were low last year, farmers did not seed much of this product. Fearing a potential loss, we decreased the amount this year. Last year, we sold our cabbage for 0,1 Turkish Lira per kilo and no one was interested in it. In Yenisehir and Inegol valleys, seeding was lower by 50% compared to last year. If we had an opportunity to export, it would have been great. Two years ago, we exported to Greece and Bulgaria, but this year we don't export at all. Other products can be exported, why can't we export our product?"
"Our goal is to export"
Yaman stressed the need to export and continued: "We expect to be able to export. Only then we can meet the costs of production. We don't have a production plan, even if we make one it doesn't work. Domestic market can only support us to a certain extent. Since cabbage is a green leafy vegetable, its shelf life is not long. It can only wait in the field for a month. We hope that we can start exporting again next year. Cabbage is harvested under difficult conditions in the cold, and we have to continue doing this. It is a vegetable that people like to consume during the winter."
"The state should help us with input costs"
Cabbage producer Mustafa Ay said: "We would like to export. Regarding this issue, we expect help from the state. If the input costs were reduced, we could actually start exporting."
Source: Haberler