Citrus Fruit in Turkey

Turkey benefits of very good climatic and ecological conditions which enhance the potential for the production of many fruit and vegetable varieties, and particularly the citrus fruit cultivation, representing 2,5 % of total world citrus production. 80 % of Turkey?s citrus fruit is grown on the Mediterranean Coast, where the Mediterranean Exporter Unions is settled and therefore this region owns an important place in our country regarding fresh fruit and vegetable exportations. Citrus orchards dwell on approximately 80.000 hectares, the main places of production being Mersin, Adana and Hatay in the region of ?ukurova where 90 % of Turkish lemons, 99 % of Turkish grapefruit, 64 % of oranges and 61 % of mandarins are produced. During these last 25 years, citrus cultivation has shown important developments and is expected to increase in the next years with a good development of the infrastructure (packinghouses, concentrated and tinned citrus plants, cold and frozen storage and terminal) as well as in transportation by sea, by air and by road. Main citrus varieties produced in Turkey: During 2013 season, about 3.681.158 tons citrus fruit were produced, which ranks Turkey as one of the top citrus producers in the Mediterranean region. The breakdown by variety is as follows: easy peelers: 942.226 tons, orange: 1.781.258 tons, lemon: 726.283 tons, grapefruit: 228.799 tons. For the same period, citrus exports rose to 1.371.699 tons, putting Turkey as the fifth bigger Mediterranean exporter country all over the World. Almost more than half of the production of easy peelers was exported (535.435 tons) and most grapefruits were also exported (141.081 tons). As for lemons and oranges, the export figures were respectively 413.821 tons and 281.317 tons.SourceTurkey - Discover the potential (including the map in the picture in better quality; access to the full document below) ?