Turkey is suffering the consequences of what the authorities already consider to be one of the worst late frosts in its history, which has left temperatures below zero between 10 and 12 April, destroying many crops and threatening agricultural production this year, warn experts.
This has been warned by the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Yumaklı, who in a statement published on social networks and echoed by numerous Turkish newspapers, warned that ‘These unfavourable climatic circumstances have caused one of the greatest agricultural frosts in our history, after the great agricultural frost of 2014.’
Temperatures in some regions have fallen in recent days to as much as 15 ºC below zero, being the temperature levels recorded as the lowest in the last 30 years, as the minister emphasised: frosts that have arrived just as many crops were beginning the spring flowering season, causing serious agricultural losses in large regions of the country, especially in fruit and vegetable production.
The president of the Turkish Farmers’ Association, Hüseyin Demirtaş, has stated that ‘the losses are 50% in all regions‘; but in certain provinces and for certain crops, they reach 80%. A complete disaster. ‘Late frosts in spring and early frosts in autumn are a farmer’s nightmare. Unfortunately, fresh fruit and vegetables have been badly affected. There had already been a very bad frost in the south; now the Aegean and Marmara regions have been badly affected. The only places that have not been affected are the Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep areas,’ he warned.
‘If there is another frost, agricultural production will come to a complete standstill’
In the western province of Manisa, one of the main grape producing regions in Turkey, it is estimated that 80% of the vineyards have been damaged, and industry representatives have already warned that if there are more frosts all the vineyards will have to be uprooted. But even if this does not happen, it is already a fact that grapes will be scarce this year and their price will skyrocket. ‘This year has been lost. We are talking about billions of liras in damage. If another frost comes, production will come to a complete standstill. What will happen next year, only God knows,’ said a local farmer.
But it is not just the vineyards. Many other crops have been severely affected, including apricots, cherries, plums, walnuts and peaches. In Malatya, a province that accounts for 85% of apricot production in Turkey, the losses are enormous and farmers say they will have no income this year.
In some provinces such as Bursa, Isparta and Nevşehir, many farmers even resorted to lighting bonfires in the crops as a desperate measure to protect the blossom. But despite these and other efforts, it is estimated that 30% of the rose production and up to 50% of the cherry, peach and apricot production has been lost due to frost.
And the worst thing is that there is no good news for agriculture: the Turkish State Meteorological Service has warned that the risk of frost will continue in the coming days, keeping thousands and thousands of farmers across the country in fear of bigger losses.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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