Mustafa Ozen, Antalya's Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry said: "In 2018, we produced 45 thousand 988 tons of strawberries in an area of 1 thousand 215 hectares. This season, we expect to grow over 50 thousand tons of strawberries."
Ozen pointed to Antalya's leading position in agricultural production and said that the city uses this potential to increases its productivity.
Ozen emphasized that Antalya contributes to the economy with its exports while meeting the majority of domestic demands for fresh fruits and vegetables. He said: "It is of the utmost importance for the welfare of our producers that they focus on high value products. Strawberries are one of those products."
Ozen underlined that a lot of residents in town earn their living from strawberry production and that people of different ages are recruited for this.
Ozen said that strawberry production is getting more and more popular and added: "World markets are interested in our strawberries due to their quality and taste. They are exported to Bulgaria, Russia, Germany and Greece. In 2004 we produced 22 thousand 35 tons of strawberries in a field of 611 hectares and these numbers were doubled in 2018. We expect to grow even more strawberries this year."
Source: Hurriyet