The floriculture industry leaders in Turkey got together via an online meeting and discussed current issues the industry is facing due to the coronavirus and asked for more government support to keep the growers afloat during these difficult times. Stating that the sector needs state support, Antalya Trade Board (ATB) President Candir reminded that there are demands such as opening the Treasury lands to flower and plant production in order to increase production and trade, the implementation of a special social security system for agriculture, and to urge the Isparta Airport to provide cargo service. ATB Professional Committee Chairman Ertan Altundag reminded that the cut flower sector was going through a very difficult period, during the pandemic period and the state only provided cargo support to the sector for a certain period of time and said that the second wave of the virus made the sector more anxious.
Lutfı Gobus, Head of ANSIAD Agriculture Commission, expressed the problems in the sector item by item. Drawing attention to the importance of market diversity in this period, Gobus emphasized the importance of dispatching the flowers to small destinations as well as main destinations by air cargo. Stating that the airfreight prices increased 2-2.5 times compared to the pre-pandemic, Gobus: “The sales price of our products is around 2.60 USD, and when we pay 1.5-2 USD of this for air freight, we have no chance to compete. It will be beneficial to switch freight prices back to the old level in order to open up the sector to new markets. Additionally, there is an increase of approximately 500 Euros in truck freight prices. The waiting period at the customs at the aircraft exits has been extended by 1 day and 1 day is a very important period for us. Considering that the life of the flower is 8-10 days, we lose 15-20 percent of the flower's life while waiting at the airport. The fast shipping was our advantage, this advantage is being lost."
Source: Kemergozcu