Antalya Governor Munir Karaloglu has visited tropical fruit greenhouses in Aksu district after tropical fruit production took off in the area. Munir Karaloglu: “Tropical fruits have become an alternative source of revenue for growers in Antalya in recent years. The tropical fruit greenhouses were mostly located in Alanya and Gazipasa districts but now it has spread to other districts in Antalya.
"The most popular tropical fruit grown in the city is the banana. The annual domestic demand for bananas in Turkey is around 800.000 tons. Currently, around 500.000 tons of bananas are grown in Turkey. The number of banana greenhouses in Antalya has increased significantly and I believe in 5 years, our domestic production will be able to fulfill the domestic demand by itself thus eliminating banana imports entirely.
"After the banana, now our growers are focusing on other tropical fruits such as mango, dragonfruit, and avocado as well. We have already trademarked avocados from Alanya and started to export this tropical fruit. With the addition of new tropical varieties to our current assortment, we believe Antalya will soon to be known as a center for tropical fruit production.”
Source: IHA