Antalya is one of the main cut flower production cities in Turkey and the efforts had accelerated in preparation for Valentine's Day. Growers collected mostly red flowers, especially carnations in their greenhouses, and prepared them for lovers.
Chairman of the Board of Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters' Association Ismail Yilmaz: "Carnation is produced on an area of 400 hectares in Antalya; This year our growers exported 70 million stems for an export value of 7 million USD for Valentine's Day. Last year we had 60 million stems sold to 22 different countries for 6 million USD. Despite the negative conditions in the industry, at least the trade is still going on. Generally, the demand is at an average level. During 2020, despite the pandemic, we reached our export figure of 2019. The first two months of the pandemic were very bad, the next 4 months went very well, now the trade is at average levels. If it had gone like the first 2 months, the sector would have come to an end. The domestic rose production can only fulfill the needs of the domestic market, so we do not have any rose exports. In fact, we have a wide selection of rose imports because our country does not have suitable climatic conditions for roses. We cannot compete with countries like Colombia and Ecuador. But in the domestic market, rose producers are happy right now. This year the demand for rose is pretty good. The rose production takes place across 200 hectares in the country. For Valentine's Day, we have mainly shipments of carnations to domestic and foreign markets. We also have products other than carnations, but they make up less than 5% of the cut flower exports."
Source: Sozcu