Apple producers in Antalya complain about rising costs and low prices

Apple producers in Antalya's Elmalı district stated that they are going through difficult times, complaining about rising costs and the inability to sell their products at fair value.

Costs and Low Prices

Apple producers in Antalya's Elmalı district are experiencing troubled times due to rising costs and the problem of not being able to sell their products at fair value. Finding it difficult to cover labor, harvesting, cold storage, and crate expenses, some producers are shaking the apples off the trees and sending them to be sold at 5 TL per kilogram for juice production. Stating that sales to merchants can range between 15-20 TL depending on the quality of the apple, producers express that the income they generate does not cover their expenses due to high production costs.

Producers' Reactions

Saying "Our crop is going for next to nothing," Ali Erçin, an apple producer in the Tekke neighborhood of Elmalı district, drew attention to the hardships experienced by producers and stated that they cannot get the return for their labor. Erçin stated that middlemen make more money than farmers. Yusuf Atlı, an apple producer in the Bayralar neighborhood, stated that the economic hardships they experienced this year were different from previous years, expressing that they are working at a loss.