Antalya: Serik District President Yusuf Ozturk of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), stated that the 21 Euro cent price tag on tomatoes will mean the end for tomato growers.
Ozturk said in a statement, that due to the greenhouse input costs, a kilo of greenhouse tomatoes costs 80 cents to produce. According to Ozturk, the price of greenhouse tomatoes needs to be at least 52 cents to cover the costs of the growers’ work.
Concerning tomato prices Ozturk stated, Turkish farmers have experienced the worst season for 20 years, if precautions are not taken, problems could be experienced sending vegetables to Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.
For greenhouse vegetable growers in Serik, the biggest problem is the increase in tax on electricity, states Ozturk, adding that for greenhouse growers the tax on electricity should be abolished.
If prices do not increase, tomatoes will be left to rot in the greenhouses
Ozturk had the following to say on the problems of fruit and vegetable growers in Antalya: “The situation for farmers and greenhouse vegetable growers under this government is miserable. Farmers are experiencing a two-way loss. Our currency has lost 30 percent against international currencies in 10 months, which meant a loss for us, input costs also increased because of the increasing dollar, the second loss. Our neighbours are also experiencing problems and we used to sell the majority of tomatoes to Russia. This time last year tomatoes sold for €0.61. If prices do not soon increase, we will start action which means tomatoes being left to rot in Serik greenhouses.”
