Turkey suffers 30% cherry crop loss

In Afyonkarahisar, an important cherry production area in Turkey, frost has struck the cherry crop,…

In Afyonkarahisar, an important cherry production area in Turkey, frost has struck the cherry crop, preventing the formation of fruit. Although the freeze lasted only a few hours, it was enough to undermine the production of cherries, which was ahead by about fifteen days.

The region has around 120,000 hectares devoted to orchards with a total cultivable area of some 160,000 hectares. The average production of cherries is about 30,000 tonnes. In 2015, the frost had halved production. This season, the forecasts were 25,000 tonnes. Apart from the production of cherries, around 10,000 tonnes of sour cherries, 10,000 tonnes of apples and about 2,000 tonnes of apricots are also produced. And first estimates also speak of a loss of about 30 percent on these products.

Turkish exporters put high hopes this year on the opening of the Chinese market, especially for cherries.