Karaman Expects Apple Harvest Above 700,000 Tonnes as Seasonal Workforce Tops 30,000
Türkiye’s Karaman province expects an apple harvest exceeding 700,000 tonnes this year, up from 100,000 tonnes after adverse weather last year. More than 30,000 seasonal workers are picking about 15,000 tonnes daily, with careful handling determining whether fruit qualifies for export.
Output rebounds after weather-hit season
Apple growers in Karaman, one of Türkiye’s main production regions, expect to harvest more than 700,000 tonnes this year, according to an Anadolu Agency report published by Milliyet. The forecast represents a sharp recovery from last year, when adverse weather limited the province’s output to 100,000 tonnes.
Karaman accounts for approximately 15% of Türkiye’s total apple production. Its orchards cover 245,000 decares and contain about 16 million apple trees, giving the province a substantial role in domestic supply. Apples harvested locally are sold in Türkiye and exported to several countries, although the report did not identify individual destinations or provide shipment volumes.
The harvest runs from August through November. The scale of the expected crop places pressure on growers, labor contractors and buyers to coordinate picking, handling and distribution over a limited period. A crop more than seven times last year’s reported volume also means substantially more fruit must be sorted, packed, marketed or stored.
More than 30,000 workers support daily harvest
Karaman Apple Producers’ Union President Celil Serim said farms are harvesting an average of 15,000 tonnes per day. He estimated that more than 30,000 workers are employed each day, including agricultural laborers arriving from numerous other provinces.
Workers currently receive 1,500 Turkish lira per day in the orchards, Serim said. At the stated workforce level, the harvest generates significant seasonal employment and channels wage income into Karaman and neighboring provinces. Many workers begin before sunrise, and some travel for three hours before starting work.
The reported daily pace illustrates the labor intensity of the operation. Growers seek to keep the quantity picked by each worker below 500 kilograms per day. This limit is intended to prevent rushed handling and protect the proportion of fruit that meets commercial and export specifications.
Handling quality determines market access
Serim said careless picking can cause problems during the export process. Apples can lose export eligibility if they collide, are dropped from a height or retain visible finger marks. Fruit that fails the required quality threshold is instead directed to the domestic market or classified as lower-grade produce, reducing its value for growers and traders.
Workers therefore try to detach apples with their stems intact and avoid bruising while transferring them into crates. They use padding during collection and divide tasks between people working near the ground, pickers in the upper parts of trees and younger workers carrying buckets. Preserving the buds is also important because damage during picking can reduce the following year’s yield.
For market participants, the combination of high volume and strict handling requirements is central to the crop’s commercial outcome. The 700,000-tonne forecast expands the supply available to domestic buyers and exporters, but only carefully harvested fruit can enter higher-value channels or remain suitable for longer storage. The pace of picking must therefore be balanced against quality preservation throughout the August-November season.
