Frost, hail, heat sour season for Turkey's lemon growers

 Can Erok with Hazel Ward in Istanbul "At first, there was the frost and we lost a lot of blossoms. Then we had a very severe hailstorm when the fruits were small," grimaces Turkish citrus farmer Aleaddin Cogal.

"Then we were hit by a heatwave and the sun was so intense that it literally boiled the fruit, killing it," says the 42-year-old, describing a string of extreme weather events that have ravaged his lemon plantation in the southern Adana region, one of Turkey's most important agricultural areas.

"We lost nearly 40 percent of our produce due to these three disasters," he says, his trees laden with green fruits, their skin split open or showing ugly brown blisters from August's withering heatwave.

Kemal Siga, one of the workers who was working when temperatures peaked last month, said it was as if the crop had been ravaged by fire.

Workers put lemons into crates during a lemon harvest.

"I've never experienced a day like this -- it felt like there was a wildfire. It ruined the groves," he told the media.

Like many of its Mediterranean neighbors, Turkey has seen a growing number of extreme weather events in recent years as the effects of global warming gather pace, with rural farming communities particularly vulnerable.

Mehmet Akin Dogan, head of the Yuregir chamber of agriculture, said farmers were under increasing pressure in the fertile Cukurova valley around Adana, which produces about 40 percent of Turkey's citrus crops.

"Cukurova is one of Turkey's most important agricultural regions which makes a significant contribution to food production and food security. But in recent years, the growing effect of climate change has started threatening our agricultural activities," he told the media.

"We have been exposed to very strong frosts and very powerful heatwaves the likes of which we've never seen before."

A worker collects lemons from trees. Photos: AFP

 From severe frost to severe heat 

The severe frost in late February saw temperatures plummet to -8C with another frost hitting in April.

Then in early August, Adana saw its "hottest day in the last 95 years" clocking up a record 47.5C, Dogan explained, saying farmers also experienced hailstorms and even tornadoes.

Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change creates ever more erratic weather patterns, with Turkey seeing its average July temperature of 25C -- a constant between 1991-2020 -- rising to 26.9C this year, the MGM weather service said.

The extreme weather also impacted other crops, with apricot farmers despairing over the damage in a country that is the world's top exporter of dried apricots.

"I've been growing apricots for 40 years, and I've never seen anything like this. Farmers are no longer trying to save their harvest but their trees," said Orhan Karaca, who heads a chamber of agriculture in eastern Anatolia's Malatya region, describing the effects of the frost as "harsher for us than the earthquake" of February 2023.

It also hit the hazelnuts -- a strategic crop for Turkey which supplies 70 percent of the world's production -- with Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli saying the frost caused damage worth some 2.3 billion lira ($56 million).

"We've faced all kinds of disasters, the only thing that hasn't happened is a meteor hitting. Now the effects of climate change have made themselves visible, farmers don't know what to do anymore," said Dogan.

Lemons cheaper in Finland

Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the extreme weather had caused an estimated 23 billion lira in damages for 50,000 farmers covered by the state's Tarsim insurance but said the government would also offer another 23 billion lira in support to 420,000 producers "who don't have insurance cover".

Climate change has placed increasing stress on Turkey's farmers who have seen their profit margins crumbling, with many struggling to keep up with insurance premiums.

Producers say the disastrous weather will force prices up.

"Lemons will be the biggest shortage this winter, we'll be paying very high prices. Right now in Cukurova where citrus is grown, the price is more expensive than in Finland: there you pay around two euros per kilo here it's three," Cogal said.

"It's a loss for Turkey. I was going to export this crop, money would have come into our country but now it's not happening because global warming is messing with the climate."

Agence France-Presse