Strawberry Harvest in the Disaster City: Finding Buyers at 70 TL per Field

The kilogram price of strawberries, which brings joy to the farmers with a bountiful harvest, finds buyers at 70 TL."

Hatay, one of Turkey's important agricultural cities, yields numerous products from its fertile soil. With the warming weather, strawberries, a summer fruit, have begun to ripen on the vines. The bountiful strawberry harvest, which revitalizes the hopes of earthquake-affected farmers, has started in the Antakya district, which was devastated by the disaster of the century. The strawberries grown by farmer Aziz Öztürk in the Tahtakapı neighborhood are exported for 50 TL per kilogram, while finding buyers at 70 TL per kilogram in the fields. Skilled female workers, who work tirelessly during the challenging strawberry harvest, earn an average daily wage of 500 TL by working for about 7 hours.

"While we export for 50 TL per kilogram abroad, we sell domestically between 70 and 80 TL"

Aziz Öztürk, the field owner, stated that this year's harvest is better than last year's, saying, "Our harvest this year is better than last year's. Our strawberries are very good in terms of taste, shape, and flavor. This field is 5 acres, but we planted strawberries on 3 acres of it. This is our fourth harvest. We've just started, but our harvest is going well. While we export for 50 TL per kilogram abroad, we have sales domestically between 70 and 80 TL. Supermarkets buy from the fields for 70 TL and sell for between 80 and 100 TL. The field price ranges from 70 TL to 80 TL."

"It's difficult because our female workers have to bend over all day"

Aziz Öztürk emphasized that strawberry harvesting is a difficult job, saying, "It's difficult because our female workers have to bend over all day. Strawberry harvesting is as difficult as cherry harvesting. The daily wage of our workers is 500 TL on average. Workers work for about 7 hours a day."

"Bending over makes our backs ache and we get very tired"

Esra Öztürk, expressing that they get very tired while harvesting strawberries, said, "We are in the Tahtaköprü neighborhood. This is our fourth harvest. It's a much better and bountiful harvest compared to last year. Our product quality is good. Bending over makes our backs ache. We get very tired.