Under the scorching heat in Kilis, the harvest of bell peppers and hot peppers for tomato paste has started. While farmers expect a yield of 75 thousand tons this year, the price of pepper is 25 TL per kilo in the field.
Hot pepper harvesting has started in Kilis, which ranks 2nd in pepper production in Turkey. A yield of 75 tons of hot pepper is expected this year.
Güven Özdemir, President of the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, stated that the hot pepper harvest has started in Kilis, which is located at the zero point to Syria, and said, “The pepper harvest, which is one of the important livelihoods of our region, has started. On April 8, we planted our seedlings in the soil and within about two months, farmers started to reap the rewards of their labor. Pepper production is carried out in approximately 45 thousand decares of land in our province. Of this, 25 thousand decares are stuffed and 20 thousand decares enter the market as dried varieties.
”Farmers’ faces smiled”
Stating that the yield, quality and price expectations are very high and therefore the farmers are smiling, Özdemir said: “This year, the yield and price made our producers smile. The harvest of Kilis pepper, which ranks second in Turkey in terms of both yield and production, has started. With the approach of the Eid al-Adha and the increase in demand for pepper and the rise in prices, farmers have smiled. In the early hours of the morning, farm workers started harvesting in the fields in the scorching heat and started the journey of the pepper from the field to our table. Last year we got approximately 68 thousand tons of pepper yield in the city, this year we expect approximately 75 thousand tons. While the price of pepper in the field was sold at 5 TL last year, this year this price reached up to 25 TL.
Farmer Umut Göçmen, who said that he produces pepper on 200 decares of land in the city and that he is very happy about the high prices, said, “On April 8, we planted pepper seedlings on about 200 decares. this vehicle is a 35-acre land, so if we are lucky, we expect a yield of about 8 to 10 tons per acre. If the weather is hot and continues at the same level, there is a decrease in the working hours of agricultural workers. It seems that the flowers of the seedlings will burn excessively due to the heat and therefore there will be a loss of yield. Last year, due to the extreme heat in production, we received 650 to 700 tons of product from 130 decares of land while we received 6 tons. This year, hopefully, the yield will be even higher. The tonnage we expect is between 8 tons and 10 tons. I expect a yield of approximately 250 to 300 tons from this field,” he said.
