Farmers are more and more turning their focus from bananas to avocado cultivation within the southern province of Alanya, which has emerged as Türkiye’s tropical fruit manufacturing hub. This shift is pushed by the avocado’s capability to thrive in tropical climates, its decrease upkeep prices and the potential for increased revenue than bananas.
Despite bananas being the popular selection for a very long time, farmers have began prioritizing avocado manufacturing as a consequence of decrease manufacturing prices and better monetary returns.
Tahir Göktepe, head of the Alanya Chamber of Agriculture, acknowledged that farmers within the district produced 130 million avocados from August 2022 to March 2023.
“As bananas require a lot of water during the summer months, producers turned to avocados. While four tons of water are used daily per acre for banana production, avocados and other tropical fruits like mangoes only need water twice a week for one hour each time. This reduces costs by one-fifth. Water consumption is one of the key factors in this transition,” Göktepe defined.
Avocado manufacturing is carried out with practically 3,000 producers in an space of roughly 7,500 decares within the district, he mentioned.
“We have 2,500 avocado trees. In the first year, we usually don’t get much yield. We ask our producers not to pick the fruit even if the tree bears fruit, as this helps the tree develop better.”
Stating that they anticipate avocado manufacturing to achieve 150 million fruits within the upcoming season, Göktepe highlighted many people, from farmers to industrialists, from the tourism sector to attorneys and docs, have contributed to the business in the course of the pandemic, and this can mirror within the manufacturing.
“The orchards planted in 2021-2022 will start yielding next season. With their contribution, this year’s products will be sufficient for both the domestic market and exports,” he added.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
