The Ultimate Soaring in Turkey's Tropical Fruit Exports

Turkey is gradually taking its success in being an agricultural country forward. It also proves its success in tropical fruit production, which is gaining importance, especially in the world market. In this way, the number of countries importing tropical fruits from Turkey is also increasing.

Tropical fruit exports from Turkey reached 7 million 857 thousand dollars in the first half of 2022. Hayrettin Uçak, president of the Aegean Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Exporters' Association, draws attention to the fact that Turkey's added value chain expands each. He said that the graph showing exports of tropical fruits had risen significantly in recent years.

Uçak said tropical fruit exports increased 225 percent in the period from 2018 to 2021. He also added:

"While our tropical fruit exports in Turkey were 4 million dollars in 2018, 5 million dollars in 2019, 6 million dollars in 2020, we increased our exports to 13 million dollars in 2021 with an 85% jump."

Turkey Breaks Records in Tropical Fruit Production

Turkey, which is on a great scale in terms of both diversity and yield, continues to break records in tropical fruit production. Product diversity is increasing thanks to breeding studies and new technologies in agriculture. Both the fertility of the soil and the suitability of the climatic conditions allow the production of different products.

In private greenhouses, many tropical fruits are grown in the Mediterranean region, including mango, lychee, and dragon fruit. Fruit grown with special attention to each stage of irrigation, cultivation, and fertilization creates resound for the rest of the world.

Although avocado was the first tropical fruit produced in Turkey, other fruits are increasingly being added to this category. The production of tropical fruits, which began in Turkey in 1934, is progressively expanding. 42 different types of tropical fruits were being cultivated as of 2022, according to records.

Tropical fruits specially produced in Turkey are produced especially in Alanya and Antalya. Kiwi production is widespread in the Black Sea and Marmara Regions. The cultivation of kiwi is a fruit that is generally known by producers in Turkey. However, tropical fruits such as lychee and dragon fruit are products that have only recently become widespread in our country.

Developments Continue to Cultivate More Tropical Fruits

150 types of 42 different products that we mentioned before continue to be produced in special greenhouses. Turkey is described as a treasure with its climate, water, and soil. For this reason, the officials of the institute, who are devoted to the cultivation of tropical products, state that they continue to work to develop this product range.

The current name of the institute, which was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at the time, is the West Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute. This institute is making progress every day, especially in tropical fruit production. Their biggest goal is to raise farmers who can produce tropical fruits all over Turkey. They are also preparing to give seminars while the studies in this field continue.

According to the institute's statement, one variety from passiflora, one from longan, one from pitaya, one from mango, and two from lychee have been registered. In this way, new species registered in the world were introduced to Turkish agriculture.

Turkey's Tropical Fruit Export by Product

Kiwi and avocado were Turkey's first fruits in this manner. Agriculture continued to advance gradually, adding fruits like dragon fruit and passion fruit. Additionally, the tropical fruit framework was enlarged and new products like carambola, papaya, mango, pineapple, coconut, and blueberries were introduced to the product lineup.

While Turkey's kiwi export was realized as 5 million 454 thousand dollars, the export of mango increased from 144 thousand dollars to 1 million 126 thousand dollars. In addition, blueberry exports increased from 524 thousand dollars to 761 thousand dollars.

While Turkey exported tropical fruits to about 60 countries in 2020, it exported them to 83 countries and regions in 2021. According to the reports, Uçak predicts that tropical fruit exports will increase to 20 million dollars by the end of 2022.

Agricultural institutes in Turkey ensure the supply of quality products by keeping the genetic coding under appropriate conditions in tropical fruit production. In this way, the demand for Turkey's tropical fruits from many parts of the world is also increasing.

Which Countries Import Tropical Fruits From Turkey?

Turkey realized 1 million 467 thousand dollars of tropical fruit exports to Russia. Exports to Romania amounted to 920,000 dollars with an increase of 10 percent. Uçak continued:

“Our exports to the United Kingdom reached $981,000 in the six months of 2022, from $119,000 compared to last year.”

Thus, the United Kingdom became the third country to which it exports the most in the first half of 2022.

Exports to Germany increased from 447 thousand dollars to 621 thousand dollars with an increase of 38 percent. Spain also ranks first in Turkey's tropical fruit export with 553 thousand dollars.