Turkish agriculture has been presented with major damages across 36 provinces, resulting in a reduction in the yield of the crop and causing further financial distress for Turkish farmers, says Emel Esin Keskin, owner of Turkish fresh produce exporter Esin Tarim: "Temperatures fell below zero degrees Celsius in April across Turkey and snowfall occurred. Agricultural frost is a natural phenomenon that occurs when air temperatures fall below the level at which agricultural products can be damaged. Especially at night, when the temperature drops below zero degrees, the leaves, fruits, and buds of plants may be damaged. This situation both reduces crop yields and causes economic losses for farmers. Many agricultural products in 36 provinces in Turkey were affected by frost, such as apricot trees, vineyards, peach trees, apple orchards, sunflower and sugar beet plantations, hazelnut and walnut orchards, cherry and plum trees."
According to Keskin, the damages have been severe, despite the efforts to prevent this. "Many Turkish farmers' annual work was wasted overnight. There appears to be an 80 to 90 per cent loss on all products. Growers tried to take as many precautions as they could. Fans were turned on in the gardens, tires and hay bales were burned. Irrigation was also carried out. Of course, these precautions have proven not to be enough, as temperatures dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius in some areas, while the lowest temperatures in the last 30 years were recorded in other areas."
The damages are spread among multiple regions and various products, Keskin states that she damages have been estimated to reach more than half a billion euros: "The agricultural frost and hail disaster experienced in the last 15 days in Turkey has caused irreversible damage to cultivated areas in many regions from Manisa to Bursa, from Ordu to Bilecik. It is estimated that the damage throughout the country exceeds 575 million euros. Malatya apricots have also been hit by climatic conditions, and 80% of the apricot trees were damaged. The fruits turned yellow from frost, and the flowers fell off as a result. With temperatures dropping to -8 ° C, the trees in the cherry orchards during the flowering period were severely damaged as well."
The Turkish Government is currently trying to assess the full picture of the damages and required assistance, Keskin explains. "It was decided to establish a Parliamentary Research Commission by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to investigate the effects of the agricultural frost incident that occurred in April 2025 in Turkey. In this context, it is expected that field visits will be made in the regions where frost has occurred, and meetings will be held with local producers. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumaklı explained that support will be provided for farmers affected by the agricultural frost incident, stating that those who have insurance will be paid immediately, as soon as the identification work is completed. The Government will cover the expenses they have incurred for the producers who do not have insurance, by calculating the damages."
Keskin emphasizes that the loss in production will surely lead to higher prices on the domestic markets: "Due to the frost damages, production is expected to decrease significantly for many products. Reduced production will bring price increases to the domestic market on the agenda once again. Therefore, not only the grower, but also the consumer will be affected by the damage this frost has caused. The industrialist who uses these products as raw materials, the merchant who does his trade, the artisan, and everyone related to the product will be harmed."
The frosts will not just have an impact on the domestic market, though. Keskin is sure that several products will be hurt in terms of exports as well, both in quantity as well as their pricing. "It is expected that the agricultural frosts will also negatively affect exports of many products. It seems inevitable that both the decrease in product quantity and the problems related to quality and the price increase will have an impact on the exports. In the past years, there have been high price increases in products such as apricots, nuts, and grapes as a result of the decrease in production, and prices will increase significantly now that the frost has caused so much damage."
"The danger has not passed yet, there are warnings regarding upcoming frosts again in many provinces, made by meteorological institutions. I would like to convey my get-well wishes to all Turkish growers. This event that we experienced affected us very seriously, but Turkey is a strong country, and we will overcome this as well," Keskin concludes.
For more information:
Emel Esin Keskin
Esin Tarim
Tel.: +90 537 617 56 29
Email: Esin@esintarım.com.tr
www.esintarim.com.tr