Alanya emerges as Türkiye’s tropical fruit hub

ANTALYA

Once known for its greenhouse vegetables and temperate fruits like apples, pears, cherries and nectarines, the southern province of Antalya’s Alanya district is now transforming into Türkiye’s tropical fruit capital.

Following a shift away from traditional crops after 2010 — driven by rising labor and input costs — the district has embraced tropical farming, led by banana and avocado production.

Today, Alanya grows around 40 varieties of tropical fruits, supplying 70 percent of the country’s avocados.

Ahead of the Tropical Fruit Festival to be held on Oct. 10-12, Alanya Municipality is stepping up efforts to promote the region’s fast-growing tropical agriculture.

According to Alanya Chamber of Agriculture Chairman Tahir Göktepe, approximately 11,000 of the district’s 27,000 farmers are now engaged in tropical fruit cultivation.

“We first conducted R&D studies and found that fruits grown here have distinctive flavors, aromas and fiber content,” Göktepe said. “Now, Alanya produces eight varieties of avocado and both production volume and acreage continue to increase annually.”

Once the stronghold of greenhouse-grown vegetables, Alanya’s agricultural landscape has evolved dramatically. Encouraged by subsidized credit policies, farmers expanded from bananas and avocados into mangos, dragon fruit, passion fruit, papaya and star fruit.

Mango production areas now cover 2,000 decares while dragon fruit and papaya fields each reach 1,000 decares, Göktepe added.

Producers say sustainability concerns are reshaping local farming preferences.

“Bananas require daily watering, but mangoes can thrive with weekly irrigation,” explained tropical fruit grower Hakan Hatipoğlu. “With water resources declining and hotels consuming large amounts, we plan our investments according to water availability. Drought is inevitable.”

Despite impressive yields, export competitiveness remains a challenge. Anmey Global Tarım, Türkiye’s first integrated avocado facility, faces higher prices than rival producers abroad. “Since we can’t compete on price, we compete on taste,” a company representative said.