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🌱 How Climate Change Is Squeezing Türkiye’s Lemon Industry 🔥🍋

Climate change is devastating Türkiye’s lemon industry, with extreme weather events destroying crops and threatening food security. Discover how heatwaves, frosts, and hailstorms are impacting farmers and the global citrus market.

Author

Green Glow
September 05, 2025

In the sun-drenched plains of Çukurova, Türkiye's agricultural powerhouse, lemon orchards once thrived in the Mediterranean climate. Today, they tell a different story—one marked by scorched fruits, blistered peels, and the rising despair of farmers. As climate change intensifies, Türkiye’s lemon industry—responsible for nearly 40% of the country's citrus output—is facing its most severe crisis yet.

What’s happening in Türkiye is not just a local tragedy, but a stark warning for global agriculture.

Table of Contents

From Frost to Fire: A Year of Climate Extremes

The 2025 growing season in Çukurova was nothing short of catastrophic. Farmers faced a relentless chain of climate-induced disasters:

  • February frost plunged temperatures to -8°C, killing early blossoms.

  • April brought another cold snap, compounding the damage.

  • June saw intense hailstorms, destroying young fruit.

  • August broke records, with temperatures soaring to 47.5°C, the highest in 95 years.

“The sun was so intense it literally boiled the fruit,” said Aleaddin Coğal, a 42-year-old farmer who lost nearly 40% of his lemon crop.

This series of weather extremes—occurring in rapid succession—left lemon trees blistered, split, and scorched. “It felt like the crop was on fire,” added Kemal Sığa, a farmworker who witnessed the damage firsthand.

Economic Toll: Rising Prices and Export Losses

The destruction in Çukurova is more than visual—it’s economic. Lemon prices have skyrocketed, even surpassing rates in northern Europe.

“Lemons are now more expensive here than in Finland,” Coğal noted. “You pay $2.33 per kilo there; here it’s $3.33.”

Beyond local shortages, Türkiye is losing its competitive edge in citrus exports. The country’s dream of bringing in foreign revenue through lemon trade is withering alongside the damaged crops.

Beyond Lemons: A Broader Agricultural Crisis

Türkiye’s lemon crisis is part of a much wider pattern:

  • In Malatya, apricot orchards suffered devastating frost damage, forcing farmers to abandon harvests and focus on saving their trees.

  • Hazelnut farmers—Türkiye supplies 70% of the global market—faced TL 2.3 billion ($56 million) in frost damage, according to Agriculture Minister İbrahim Yumaklı.

“We’ve faced all kinds of disasters. The only thing that hasn’t happened is a meteor strike,” said Mehmet Akın Doğan, head of the Yüreğir Ziraat Odası.

Government Response: Billions in Aid, But Is It Enough?

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that TL 23 billion (over $560 million) in damages were recorded by 50,000 insured farmers under TARSIM, the state-backed agricultural insurance program.

An additional TL 23 billion in aid is earmarked for the 420,000 uninsured farmers—a much-needed gesture, but one that underscores the scale of the crisis.

Still, many fear this is a short-term fix for a long-term problem.

Climate Change: A Structural Threat to Food Security

The root cause of this disruption is clear: human-induced climate change. Türkiye’s average July temperature, typically 25°C between 1991 and 2020, hit 26.9°C in 2025, marking a significant and dangerous shift.

Erratic weather patterns, rising heat, and increased frequency of natural disasters are no longer anomalies—they’re the new normal. For farmers, this means instability, insecurity, and an ever-growing risk of complete crop failure.

What Lies Ahead?

Without adaptation and mitigation, Türkiye—and the world—will face:

  • Higher food prices

  • Greater reliance on imports

  • Loss of agricultural jobs and livelihoods

  • Worsening rural poverty

For lemon growers in Çukurova, survival will depend on access to resilient farming methods, expanded insurance coverage, and government investment in climate-smart agriculture.

Conclusion

Türkiye’s lemon crisis is more than a regional agricultural issue—it’s a global climate warning. As citrus trees wilt under the weight of extreme weather, farmers are asking not just how they can grow fruit again, but whether they can survive another season.

Climate change is no longer knocking at the door. It’s in the orchard, burning the leaves and splitting the fruit.

FAQs

Why is Türkiye’s lemon industry struggling?

Türkiye’s lemon industry, particularly in the Çukurova region, is facing severe crop losses due to extreme weather caused by climate change. Unprecedented frost, hailstorms, and record-breaking heatwaves have destroyed large portions of lemon crops.

How much of the lemon crop has been lost in 2025?

Some farmers report losses of up to 40% of their lemon yield due to successive weather disasters, including frost and intense heatwaves.

What impact is this having on prices?

Lemon prices in Türkiye have spiked sharply. In some cases, they are now higher than prices in northern Europe—about $3.33 per kilo in Türkiye compared to $2.33 per kilo in Finland.

Is the crisis limited to lemons?

No. Other crops like apricots in Malatya and hazelnuts in the Black Sea region have also been severely affected by climate-related events.

What support is the Turkish government offering?

The government has committed TL 46 billion in support—half for insured farmers under TARSIM, and half for the 420,000 uninsured farmers affected by climate-related losses.

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