The agricultural production area in Yenisehir is around 52,000 hectares and fruits and vegetables are grown in 22,000 hectares. The green pepper production area is around 3,000 hectares. 12 varieties of green pepper are grown in the area and they are sold both to local and export markets.
Growers harvest products twice a year and currently they are in the process of harvesting the second crop of the year. Current price level is between 0.25 – 0.40 USD per kg.
Yenisehir Chamber of Agriculture Chairman Sadi Aktas: “Our growers are utilizing the latest technology for production and that’s why the quality level of green peppers from here are very high. We grow around 70,000 tons of green pepper annually and around 20% of that volume is exported.
Our growers have two harvest periods in a year. The first one was in July and we have received 35,000 tons of products from that first harvest. We expect a similar return from the second harvest which has just started. Summer prices were a bit low for our growers at around 0.10 USD per kg because most consumers were on holiday but we expect the prices to improve in the second harvest. The harvest will continue until the end of October.
The main export destinations for green peppers have been so far Germany, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. In total, we export to 15 different countries. There are around 30 export companies in the area which connects us to the buyers in these countries. The prices are definitely more attractive in export markets.”
According to the figures announced by Uludag Exporters Association, green pepper grown in different regions of Turkey is exported to 49 different countries between January 1st and September 15th of 2018. The export volume increased 36% compared to the previous year, rising from 55,400 tons 75,500 tons. The export value also increased by 23% and reached 68.5 million USD.
Most exports were sent to Germany with an export volume of 18,000 tons which represented a 20% increase compared to 2017 figures. Russia followed Germany with an export volume of 10,615 tons of green pepper. This export figure was a significant increase from last year’s 2.5 tons. This low export volume from last season was due to trade restrictions in Russia regarding Turkish products. Turkey’s green pepper export figures also showed dramatic improvement in Romania with a 56% increase to 8,300 tons.
Uludag Exporters Association Vice President Senih Yazgan: “Our members have increased their green pepper export volume by 96% from 1,217 tons to 2,386 tons and export value by 77 % from 1.5 million USD to 2.7 million USD so far this year. One of the main reasons behind that was the re-opening of Russian markets for Turkish exports. We believe we can increase these export figures even further if we can solve the chemical residue problems in some areas and increase the varieties.”
Source: Bloomberg / Milliyet
