Some growers in Diyarbakir, a city located in southeastern Turkey, decided to leave their product to rot in the fields due to low prices in the market and increasing production costs.
The loss of the value of Turkish currency in recent months increased the production costs of the growers who have many imported cost items for production, such as fertilizer, chemicals, and most importantly fuel.
However the prices for watermelon remained at the same level in the market and the growers realized that with their current cost structure and prices, they would be selling their products at a loss.
The growers note that the sale price at the grower is 0.08 USD per kg whereas wholesalers, who purchase watermelons from growers, sell it for 0.16 USD. That’s why growers are furious at the margins of these wholesalers and are asking for state’s assistance to intervene the situation and help them to get either better prices for their products or provide some breaks for their cost items. The growers believe that if this situation continues there will be very few growers left in the area.