Frost, drought slash pistachio yield by 80 pct

GAZİANTEP

Farmers in southeastern Türkiye face a grim season for Antep pistachios, dubbed the region's "green gold," as unrelenting drought and agricultural frost have slashed yields by nearly 80 percent.

The ordeal has left producers in Gaziantep expecting only about 25,000 tons this year, according to Cuma Yiğit, head of the Gaziantep Agricultural Chambers’ Provincial Coordination Board.

Harvesting, which began in early August and will conclude by the end of September, is carried out under punishing conditions.

Groups of laborers arrive in orchards at dawn, enduring temperatures climbing to 40 degrees Celsius as they spend hours handpicking pistachios. The nuts are collected on tarps, packed into sacks and transported to processing facilities.

Yiğit noted that this year coincides with a natural “off year” in the pistachio cycle, when trees yield less fruit, but frost and drought have exacerbated the decline.

“The cold damaged the trees, and where such frost struck, productivity will not return for three years,” he said, warning that climate pressures cast a shadow over the crop’s future.

Last year, a “high-yield” year, Gaziantep recorded 118,000 tons of pistachios. In stark contrast, this season’s output is expected to reach only a fifth of that figure.

Prices reflect the shortage. Red pistachios are currently sold at 650 Turkish Liras ($15.75) per kilogram, while fresh red pistachios fetch around 430 liras.

Despite high market prices, farmers are struggling to cover labor costs. “If frost had not struck, we would have matched last year’s harvest,” Yiğit remarked, stressing that the scarcity has driven prices rather than profits.