Peach Producers React to Low Purchase Prices from Industry
· GıdaTarım
Despite expectations of a strong increase in yield in Mersin, the fruit juice industry's purchase price of 5 TL per kilogram is causing farmers, who produce at a cost of 15 TL per kilogram, a loss of 10 TL per kilogram.
Yield Increase and Cost Pressure
Mersin, Turkey's leader in peach production, is at the heart of the sector with its 188,267 tons of production in 2024. According to the first estimates for 2026 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the national peach yield is projected to increase by 88.6% compared to last year. However, this strong rise in yield is overshadowed by the rising input costs in the field. According to TurkStat data, as of May 2026, the agricultural input price index increased by 36.65% on an annual basis, while the price increase for fertilizers and soil improvers reached 63.56%.
Industry Prices Lead to Losses
Mersin Chamber of Agriculture Chairman Musa Yılmaz announced that, based on data from the field, the production cost of one kilogram of peaches has reached approximately 15 TL. Yılmaz stated that the purchase price offered to the fruit juice industry remains around 5 TL, indicating that farmers are incurring a loss of 10 TL per kilogram before even harvesting. Yılmaz emphasized that selling to fruit juice factories is not a source of profit and that this path is taken to prevent the product from spoiling in the field, calling for an urgent revision of industry purchase prices.