Turkey’s citrus production for MY 2021/22 is forecast to be up year-over-year in large part due to improved weather conditions compared to the previous year’s hot weather. While production is up, growers are seeing profit margins shrink as input costs, such as fuel and fertilizer, increase at a faster clip than farm gate prices. To cut losses, some grapefruit, orange and mandarin growers opted to leave their crops unharvested. With the exception of oranges, more than 50 percent of Turkey’s citrus production is expected to be exported in MY 2021/22. Looking ahead to MY 2022/23, citrus production will likely decline because of freezing weather that damaged blossoms in March of this year.
Looking ahead to MY 2022/23, orange and other citrus growers are concerned that freezing weather conditions in March 2022 will affect production and export levels. The freezing weather reportedly caused serious blossom damage, including at some orchards with wind machines.
Like other Turkish farmers, citrus growers are dealing with rising input costs for fuel, electricity, fertilizer, and crop protectants. Growers have been especially hit hard by higher fertilizer and diesel prices. The price of fertilizer is up 350 percent from last year. Meantime, the price of diesel is 21.2 TL/liter ($1.24/liter), up a little more than 220 percent from a year ago. Citrus growers primarily use diesel to power wind machines to circulate warm air in their orchards during the colder months to avoid freeze damage.
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Source: apps.fas.usda.gov