The Turkish heatwave is making things challenging for the entire Turkish agriculture, says Cihan Tozlu, Agricultural Engineer and Sr. Vice President of the Turkish berry exporter Safir Berry. “Within the first week of June, the temperatures started to rise all over Turkey and reached the highest levels between mid-July and mid-August. At the moment we are experiencing temperatures of up to 44-45 degrees Celsius in Southeast Turkey. Generally, the whole country is affected by the high temperatures, but especially Southern regions of Turkey are highly affected. The least affected region is the Black Sea region, in the Northern part of the country.”
When looking at what this will mean for certain products, there is a risk of the plants drying out, Tozlu explains: “High temperatures cause heat strokes, especially in younger plants, causing the plants to dry out. Besides that, the high temperatures cause sun stains in fruits as well as low yields when it’s time to harvest. There is also water shortage due to these high temperatures and the previous dry winter. Due to the dry winter, the underground water levels have plummeted and the dam water levels are very low as well. In August, many farmers are struggling to irrigate their crops, which causes even more harm and low yields. The high temperatures also cause heat stress in plants and negatively affects healthy bud production. Especially in produce like cherries, it also causes twin fruit production.”
According to Tozlu, climate change and inflation is making it quite difficult on the growers of fruit and vegetables. This in turn could result in lower production levels overall, he states. “When looking which crops will have the worst of it in regards to these high temperatures, it’ll mostly be products which are produced by dry agriculture, such as olives, figs, walnuts, wheat and barley. With the increasing production costs, it becomes more and more difficult to be a grower in agriculture. Climate change, high temperatures and water shortages drive people away from agriculture and cause a decline in agricultural production. Specifically in the short term in Turkey, if temperatures continue like this it will cause a decline in yields and quality, especially in produce like figs and olives, the harvest of which is close.”
For more information:
Cihan Tozlu
Safir Berry
Tel: +90 543 628 7311
Email: [email protected]
www.safirberry.com
