Apple is widely consumed because of its high antioxidant content, as well as its good taste, important nutrients and vitamins. It is in much greater demand than other temperate climate fruit types (such as peach and nectarine).
The homeland of the apple, which is among the temperate climate fruit species, extends to the South Caucasus, including Anatolia, and its culture dates back to before Christ. The high adaptability of the species to different ecologies has caused it to spread widely around the world. Apple, which constitutes approximately 12% of the total fruit production in the world, is an important species that ranks second after banana.
The leading countries in apple production in the world show an unusual change in fruit growing. The fact that this change is due to the developments in the fields of production plantations and production systems, beyond being affected by the bad climatic conditions seen in some years, can be considered as an indicator of the technological change and economic potential in the sector.
Yield and quality are the most important elements of profit in apple production. However, high labor costs are especially challenging for developed countries. Dense planting orchards established with dwarf clone rootstocks increase apple quality and yield, while reducing labor costs.
Turkey is one of the important countries in world apple production. Although its place in the ranking changes from year to year, it is among the top 5 countries in the world in terms of apple production area and amount.
Although the apple production areas in the world vary according to the years, it is around 5 million hectares. World apple production areas, which were 5,075,039 ha in 2012, increased by 4,3% in 2016 to 5,293,340 ha.
Apple production in the world; increases due to both the increase in production areas and the widespread use of higher-yielding varieties. World apple production, which was 71.635 million tons in 2012/13 season, increased by 9.94% in 2016/17 season and reached 76.936 million tons, the highest level of recent years. World apple production was 76,208 million tons in 2017/18 season.
When the world apple production in 2017/18 season is analyzed on the basis of countries, it is seen that China alone meets 58.39% of the world apple production and China's share in the world's total apple production is increasing every year . It is seen that EU countries are the group of countries with the highest apple production after China, followed by the USA. Although Turkey and India change from year to year, some years fifth and some years sixth place in the world apple production amount. Iran, Russia, Chile, Brazil and Ukraine are the other countries that stand out in the world apple production amount. The share of countries other than these top 10 countries in total apple production is 7.40%. In this case, while China is the single most important country in terms of world apple production, the sum of the second and third EU countries and the USA is 1/3 of China's.
The import amounts of the leading countries in world apple import by years are given below. In the 2017/18 season, world apple import amount was 5.891 million tons, while Russia ranked first with 690 million tons, Australia took the second place with 700 million tons and EU countries took the third place with 450 million tons. These three countries are respectively; Belarus, New Zealand, Mexico, India, Canada, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates followed.
While the leading countries in world apple export are also leading in apple production, it is seen that Turkey cannot show its superiority in apple production amount in export amount. World apple export amount was 5.895 million tons in 2017/18 season. While the EU countries were in the first place in the amount of world exports until the 2017/18 season, China took the first place in the amount of apple exports by realizing 20% of the world's apple export amount in the 2017/18 season. EU countries and USA followed China.
Due to its ecological suitability, apple has found a wide spread area in Turkey. Most of the apples produced are consumed fresh in the domestic market, and some of them are used as fruit juice, fruit concentrate, etc. It is used as a raw material in the processing industry. Most of the apples used as raw materials are discarded apples, which are poured under the tree (under the skirt) and are also called non-quality. Especially in the gardens where summer apple varieties are used, some of the fruits that fall before harvest are used as raw materials, while the other part cannot be marketed and remains on the land. This situation brings along product losses and economic losses occur.
Although apple cultivation is carried out in all provinces in Turkey, it has been concentrated in certain regions, especially in recent years. Businesses where apple production is carried out for commercial purposes have aimed to get more products from the unit area by applying new techniques and technologies.
The table below shows the apple production areas in Turkey over the years. Apple production areas, which were 174.811 ha in 2012, decreased by approximately 1% in 2016 and became 173.394 ha.
In 2016, Turkey's apple production areas are 1,733,935 decares, followed by Niğde province with 234,090 decares. While Isparta ranks second with 228,137 decares, Karaman ranks third with 195,563 decares. These three provinces are followed by Antalya, Konya, Denizli, Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş, Mersin and Çanakkale, respectively. The production area of 561,597 decares of apple, which can be grown in almost every province of Turkey, is located in the provinces other than these 10 provinces.
The proportional distribution of apple production areas by provinces in Turkey over the years is given below. While the province of Niğde had 12.27% of Turkey's apple production areas in 2012, it has increased its apple production areas over the years and in 2016, it has 13.50% of Turkey's apple production areas. It is seen that Isparta has 13.16% of the apple production areas in Turkey and 11.28% of Konya. It covers 67.61% of Turkey's apple production areas of Niğde, Isparta, Karaman, Antalya, Konya, Denizli, Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş, Mersin and Çanakkale. It is observed that Niğde, Isparta, Konya, Denizli, Kayseri and Çanakkale increase their ratio in apple production areas of Turkey from year to year.
The number of apples at fruiting age in Turkey according to their varieties is given below. The number of apples in Turkey, which was 45,253 thousand in 2012, increased by 23% in 2016 to 55,584 thousand. The main apple varieties produced in Turkey are Golden, Starking, Amasya and Granny Smith. The highest number of apple trees in Turkey belongs to the Starking variety, and the number of apple trees at the age of fruiting of the Starking variety, which was 16,894 thousand in 2012, increased by 8% in 2016 and reached 18,273 thousand. The apple variety with the highest number of trees after Starking is Golden, and the number of apple trees at fruit bearing age of the Golden variety, which was 10,803 thousand in 2012, increased by 6% in 2016 to 11,486 thousand. The total number of trees of Starking and Golden varieties is more than half of the current number of apple trees in Turkey.
The annual production amount of apple, which can be grown in almost every province of Turkey, varies between 2.7 and 2.9 million tons. Turkey's apple production amount, which was 2.9 million tons in the 2102/13 production season, decreased by 5.45% in 2016 to 2.7 million tons.
The ratio of the total amount of apples produced in Turkey to the world apple production is shown. While the total amount of apples produced in Turkey in the 2012/13 production season met 4.05% of the world apple production, this rate decreased by 0.44% to 3.61% in the 2017/18 production season.
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Unlike other agricultural products, apple cultivation can be done in 81 provinces of Turkey. Although apples, which have a high adaptability to different climatic and ecological conditions, are grown in every province in Turkey, approximately 78% of the total production is carried out in 10 different provinces. The apple production amounts on the basis of provinces in Turkey by years are shown below. Turkey's apple production, which was 2,888,985 tons in 2012, increased by 1,24% in 2016 and reached 2,925,828 tons. Although Niğde ranks first in terms of apple production areas in Turkey, Isparta stands out in terms of apple production. With a production of 596,503 tons in 2016, Isparta alone met 20% of Turkey's apple production. After Isparta, Karaman stands out as the province with the highest apple production area. Having 388,404 tons of apple production in 2012, Karaman reached 571,479 tons in 2013 and decreased to 398,085 tons in 2016. Niğde, Antalya, Denizli, Kayseri, Konya, Çanakkale, Mersin and Kahramanmaraş follow Isparta and Karaman in apple production, respectively.
Total apple production of Isparta, Karaman, Niğde and Antalya in 2016 constituted 56.48% of Turkey's total apple production. While Isparta ranks first with 20.39%, Karaman ranks second with 13.61%, Niğde ranks third with 12.88%, and Antalya ranks fourth with 9.60%. It is seen that the province with the highest rate of change is Antalya. While 6.41% of Turkey's total apple production was met by Antalya in 2012, this rate decreased to 3.75% with a decrease of 2.66% in 2015, and increased to 9.60% in 2016 with an increase of 5.85%. It is seen that the contribution of 71 provinces excluding the first ten provinces that have a share in production to the total apple production in Turkey is equal to the production amount of Isparta.
In 2016, Turkey's apple yield average was 1,69 tons/da. When the yield amounts of the first 10 provinces, which are leading in apple production in 2016, are examined; It is seen that the yield of Isparta is 2.04 tons/da, Niğde 1.35 tons/da, Karaman 2.77 tons/da, while Çanakkale ranks first in apple yield with 3.68 tons/da.
In Turkey, consumer prices for apples by years are listed below. While the average consumer price of apples was 2.53 TL/kg in 2016, it increased by 20% in 2017 and reached 3.14 TL. In 2017, the lowest apple price for consumers was January with 2.45 TL/kg, and the highest month was July with 4.06 TL/kg. In the same year, it was determined that there was a 66% difference between the lowest and highest prices, with the highest prices in the summer months and the lowest prices in the autumn and winter months.
The most important factors in apple marketing are variety and variety standardization. Apple production in the varieties and standards desired by the markets is the most important element of competitiveness in the foreign market. Although our country's apple production is high, its foreign trade performance is not at the desired levels.
Considering Turkey's apple production, it can be said that it does not receive the desired share in exports. There are many reasons for this. The main reasons for this are the low production quality, the unsuitability of the cultivated varieties for export, the limited infrastructure opportunities and the small scale of apple enterprises. At the same time, the efficiency of enterprises is an important factor in today's competitive conditions.
Although Turkey is a self-sufficient country in apple production, it mainly imports Granny Smith variety apples in order to ensure variety standardization in consumption. While apple import amount of Turkey was 3.4 thousand tons in 2008/09 season, it reached the highest level of the last 10 years and reached 4.8 thousand tons in 2010/11 season. In the following years, the amount of imports decreased gradually and decreased to 1.0 million tons in the 2017/18 season.
Even though Turkey's apple export has increased rapidly in recent years, it is seen that it is not at the desired level considering the production potential of Turkey. Our apple export of 24,2 thousand tons in 2008/09 season increased 8,3 times and reached 200,0 thousand tons in 2017/18 season. While the highest export amount in the last ten years was 215,0 thousand tons in 2016/17 season, the lowest export amount of the last ten years was realized as 24,2 thousand tons in 2008/09 season.
It is seen that Turkey is a sufficient country in apple production and this level of competence does not fall below 100%, although it varies over the years.
Although it varies according to the years, it is seen that the consumption amounts of apples per capita in Turkey are between 23 kg/year and 30 kg/year. While it reached the highest level with 30 kg/year in 2012/13 season, it decreased to the lowest level with 21.3 kg/year in 2014/15 season.
Since apple is a fruit suitable for the taste and income levels of almost all people in Turkey and around the world, its trade area is wide. Apple is one of the most traded fruits in the world and consumer demand changes rapidly. In terms of apple production amount, which can be produced in almost every region, it is in the first place among pome fruit types. The world apple trade, supported by today's advanced marketing strategies, continues to expand with the increasing trend of healthy eating in developed countries and the increasing population and income in developing countries.
Apple production focused on yield and quality forms the basis of competition in the international market. According to 2017 data, China, the EU and the USA have been the most important actors in world apple production and trade. China alone meets half of the world's apple production and exports.
In 2016, Turkey's apple production areas are 1,733,935 decares, followed by Niğde with 234,090 decares. While Isparta ranks second with 228,137 decares, Karaman ranks third with 195,563 decares. These three provinces are followed by Antalya, Konya, Denizli, Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş, Mersin and Çanakkale, respectively. The production area of 561,597 decares of apple, which can be grown in almost every province of Turkey, is located in the provinces other than these 10 provinces.
Unlike other agricultural products, apple cultivation can be done in 81 provinces of Turkey. Although apples, which have a high adaptability to different climatic and ecological conditions, are grown in every province in Turkey, approximately 78% of the total production is carried out in 10 different provinces. Turkey's apple production, which was 2,888,985 tons in 2012, increased by 1,24% in 2016 and reached 2,925,828 tons. Although Niğde province in Turkey ranks first in terms of apple production areas, Isparta province stands out in terms of apple production. With a production of 596,503 tons in 2016, the province of Isparta alone met 20% of Turkey's apple production. After Isparta, the province of Karaman stands out as the province with the highest apple production area. Karaman province, which had 388,404 tons of apple production in 2012, reached 571,479 tons in 2013 and decreased to 398,085 tons in 2016. Niğde, Antalya, Denizli, Kayseri, Konya, Çanakkale, Mersin and Kahramanmaraş provinces follow respectively Isparta and Karaman provinces in apple production amount. Despite Turkey's high apple production potential; Due to the inadequacies in efficiency, quality and marketing infrastructure, it remains far from competitiveness in the international market.
Turkey can only export 1-3% of the apple it produces, although it varies according to the years. While Turkey mainly exported apples to Iraq and Syria in 2017, it imported the most from Chile.
It is seen that exports are higher than imports in Turkey's apple foreign trade. Therefore, the steps that will carry the sector forward are of particular importance for the economy. Turkey's close proximity to major market countries, in terms of its production capability and geographical location, enables a significant advantage in apple exports to these countries. In order for Turkey to increase its competitiveness in the world apple market, importance should be given to productivity, quality and technology in production.
Sources
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