Excessive rainfall in the Black Sea leads to a drying crisis for hazelnuts

Excessive rainfall during the harvesting and drying period in the Black Sea Region left hazelnut producers in a difficult situation. While a drying crisis occurred in approximately 15% of production areas across Turkey due to the inability to dry the product on drying grounds and flood risks, this rate reached 70% in Ordu. Producers had to transport hazelnuts to other provinces to dry them and faced additional costs; the Soil Products Office (TMO) granted producers additional appointment rights.

Incessant rainfall in the Black Sea Region negatively affected hazelnut producers. Due to rain starting during the harvesting stage, hazelnuts could not be dried on drying grounds, while drying grounds being partially flooded risked the quality of tons of crops. While a drying crisis was experienced in approximately 15% of production areas across Turkey, this rate reached 70% in Ordu. Some producers took their hazelnuts to drier provinces such as Tokat and Sivas to dry them or used hazelnut drying facilities. This situation brought significant additional transport and facility costs per ton to producers.

Hasan Kozoğlu, Board Member of the Union of Turkish Agricultural Chambers (TZOB), stated that excessive rainfall also caused drying problems in the high parts of Ordu as well as in Giresun, Trabzon, and Sakarya, bringing an additional cost of 20-25% to producers. Atakan Akça, President of the Ordu Altınordu Agriculture Chamber, noted that drying problems occurred in at least 120 thousand tons of the 180 thousand tons of expected production in Ordu. Following the adverse weather conditions, the Soil Products Office (TMO) announced that producers who have exhausted their current appointment rights and have difficulty drying their products are granted the right to receive additional appointments for the remaining product amount according to Farmer Registration System limits.