Turkey ranks third in nuts production

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkes is among the leading nuts producers but the country lags behind in a list of exporters of the fruit.

Turkey has been ranked as the world’s third largest producer of nuts after China and the United States, meeting 8 percent of the globe’s demand in the sector.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2010 data, more than 2.5 million tons of nuts are produced on 844,000 hectares of land across the world every year. China produces more than 1 million tons alone while U.S. production is at 457,000 tons. Turkey produces a more moderate 178,000 tons every year.

Increasing harvests help Turkish nut producers
Increasing harvest volumes have helped Turkish nut production in recent years, growing by 53 percent over the past 10 years to 2011. The better production figures were also aided by a growth in the amount of land under cultivation, as well as in the number of trees. Whereas there 5.8 million trees in 2002, this figure was 9.6 million by 2011.

Newly planted trees become productive within five years.

Farmers have also gravitated more toward growing nuts due to ministerial support for the endeavor.
The U.S. leads all countries in terms of nuts exports, with Turkey trailing in a distant 12th place.

Turkish citizens consume an average of three kilograms of nuts a year, with the product consumed either directly or within other foods, especially pastry.

Almost all regions in the country grow nuts, but the Black Sea, Aegean and Southeast Anatolian regions top the others in terms of both quality and quantity. Hakkari, Kahramanmaraş, Bursa and Van produce together produce 20 percent of Turkey’s total output.