The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) projects that lemon and grapefruit production in Türkiye (previously known as Turkey) will both increase in 2023–24.
LEMON
Lemon production is forecast to increase 20% to 1.58 million metric tons (MMT). The increase is due to favorable weather conditions during spring 2023.
Half of the total lemon production in Türkiye is produced in Mersin province. The main problems reported by lemon producers are low farm selling prices versus high market prices, labor costs for tree trimming, diseases and pests, input costs, crop quality and marketing issues. Another key problem is the struggle to keep lemons in cold storage for export; storage costs are expensive.
In 2023–24 lemon exports are expected to increase 15% to 637,000 metric tons (MT) due to supply.
The Mediterranean fruit fly remains the biggest concern among producers and exporters, as the pest is the reason for many of the rejections of Turkish lemons at European Union and Russian ports.
Türkiye imports a very low quantity of lemons, mostly from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
GRAPEFRUIT
In 2023–24, Turkish grapefruit production is expected to increase 9.5% to 217,000 MT due to favorable weather conditions during spring 2023.
Most of the grapefruit in Türkiye is produced in the Adana province.
Grapefruit exports are expected to reach 100,000 MT in 2023–24, 4% higher than in 2022–23. The increase is due to expected higher export demand. The main export destinations are Russia, Poland and Romania. Russia accounts for 20% of all exports.
Due to climate change, especially extreme temperatures, Türkiye is struggling to maintain sweetness in its grapefruit; most grapefruit are sour and bitter. For this reason, Türkiye is not a stable supply market but is a backup possibility if the other large exporting countries are not able to produce enough grapefruit in a given year.
Grapefruit imports are expected to remain small at approximately 1,000 MT.
Read more on the outlooks for Turkish tangerines and oranges and orange juice. See the full USDA FAS report on Turkish citrus here.
Source: USDA FAS
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