Lemon production economics and market structure in Turkey

ABSTRACTPhD THESISLEMON PRODUCTION ECONOMICS AND MARKET STRUCTURE INTURKEYBekir DEMİRTAŞDEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSINSTITUTE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCESUNIVERSITY OF ÇUKUROVASupervisor : Prof. Dr. Aykut GÜLYear : 2005, Page : 210Jury : Prof. Dr. Aykut GÜLProf. Dr. Turgut YEŞİLOĞLUProf. Dr. Faruk EMEKSİZAssoc.Prof. Dr. Erdal DAĞISTANAssoc.Prof. Dr. Tuna ALEMDARIn this research, lemon production, marketing structure, storage and conditions ofcitrus nurseries in Turkey were investigated. Farmers, warehouses and nursery managers atmain production area covering provinces of Mersin, Antalya, Adana, Hatay and Muğla havebeen interviewed.Mean lemon orchard size was found to be 18,62 decare, yield was 2.056 kg perdecare and 73 kg per tree in research area. The most common lemon cultivar produced wasKütdiken and main lemon disease was mal secco caused by Phoma tracheiphila. Lemon isthe mostly harvested between November to February. Local merchants had a considerableimpact on lemon marketing. Labor need was 103,88 hours per decare and 7,27 hoursmachine power. Lemon production cost was 242.317 TL per kg and mean sale price was352.888 TL per kilo. Gross production income was 725.366.553 TL per decare in lemonproduction and total production cost was 498.204.021 TL per decare and variable cost205.646.088 TL, gross profit was 519.720.465 TL per decare. Net profit was 227.162.532TL per decare and rational profit 145,60%.In citrus nurseries, main need was virus-free plant material. Some technicalimprovements would help decrease storage losses. Lemon producers declared that mainproduction problems were due to lack of technical knowledge and low lemon price. Primarysource of information on cultural practices was obtained from neighboring farmers andcommercial pesticide and fertilizer sellers.Spain is the main rival country to Turkish lemon industry and Russia was majorlemon market. Romania and Poland were developing lemon markets for Turkish lemonindustry in recent years. There is needs of citrus producers own organization to overcometheir problems in Turkey.Keywords: Lemon, production economics, market structure, nursery, storage.II