Turkey: Tomato and pepper prices hit rock bottom
The gap reached 500% Until around one month ago the price of tomatoes and peppers was high at the m…The gap reached 500%
Until around one month ago the price of tomatoes and peppers was high at the markets because of the frost and floods in the Western Mediterranean; now the price of tomatoes and peppers has reached its lowest level for 2015 thus far. Recently, tomatoes which normally cost 5 lira at the market, can be found at the wholesale market for 20 kurus per kilo. It is possible to find tomatoes for 50 kurus on market stands.
Peppers which are one of the determiner products of the countries inflation rate, encountered a similar situation. While at the market a bag full of peppers can be bought for a lira, at the wholesale market this figure is as low as 20 kurus. The decrease in exports to Russia, which is living through an economic crisis and an excess of produce, are shown to be the reasons for the decrease in prices.
The Chairman of the Farmland Conservation Association, Bayram Cengiz, states that the inactivity at the wholesale market is damaging to the farmers, “From morning to evening there are no sales. Antalya’s tomato market is 20 kurus, if it’s good, 30 kurus. Farmers can neither make money from this price, nor pay their debts.”
The producers and the brokers who are hoping to sell the unsold products, pray for a rise in prices.