Lemon producer cries, trees are cut down one by one

Chairman of the Yüreğir Chamber of Agriculture Mehmet Akın Doğan said that lemon producers are in a difficult situation and the product is sold for 50 kuruş in the orchard.

Mehmet Akın Doğan explained that farmers started cutting down lemon trees because there were no buyers in most places and stated that the price on the market varies between 15 and 20 TL and said:

“This year in Adana, although the yield of Mayer-type lemons is high and the harvests are high, the trees are being removed with shovels. Lemons are sold in the orchard for 50 cents per kilo and, since there are no buyers in most places, our farmers have to remove their lemons. This garden that we see is a 6-7 year old garden. Our farmer spent 6 years here, using fertilizers, medicines and labor to make it this way. “Currently, our farmer is ripping out the Mayer lemon trees without even picking up the leaking hoses.”

Doğan stated that there are lemon varieties in a total area of ​​240 thousand decares in Adana and said: “150 thousand decares of these are Mayer type lemons. This year we expected 520,000 tons of lemons in Adana. But it seems that the performance will be a little higher this year. “Most Mayer lemons will be eliminated in the future,” he says.

THE MANUFACTURER WANTS SUPPORT

Chamber President Doğan stated that support from the Support Price Stabilization Fund (DFIF) given to producers exporting abroad should be given to lemon producers this year and said:

“The harvest has started and when the Mayer type lemons started, they entered the market at 4-5 lire per kilo. The lemon remained on the tree because it was not worth money and the farmers are uprooting it and sending it to biomass facilities and power plants. Our farmer’s cost here is 11-12 thousand lira for 1 decare. Our farmers will suffer losses and pay for diesel, medicine, farmers and fertilizers. He doesn’t even come to the farmer’s garden at the moment. “We asked the authorities for support from the Support Price Stabilization Fund of 1.5 to 2 lira per ton of Mayer lemon, but the government did not make any statement.”

‘WE HAVE DIFFICULTY FINDING SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS’

Furthermore, Doğan stated that it is currently difficult to find seasonal agricultural workers in Adana and said: “Citrus packaging facilities are operating at 50-60 percent capacity. For this to reach 100 percent, even if agricultural workers came to the Ereğli region, we may still have a 21 percent deficit. “If the worker had worked at 100 percent, this Mayer lemon would not have been left on the tree,” he said.