Malatya apricot harvest rebounds after frost, supporting Turkish export recovery

Malatya restores apricot production after severe frost losses

Malatya has completed a plentiful apricot harvest after agricultural frost caused the province’s signature crop to be almost entirely absent last year, according to remarks by Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı reported by Haberler.com. Speaking at the opening of the 28th Malatya Apricot Festival and Fair, Yumaklı said the renewed harvest would help production and exports regain strength and restore income generated by the industry for the province.

The rebound is significant beyond the local market because Malatya leads global dried apricot production and exports. Yumaklı said Turkey ranks first worldwide in apricot production with a 28% share, while Malatya alone accounts for 54% of the country’s output. These shares make changes in the province’s harvest relevant to processors, exporters and international buyers that depend on Turkish supply.

Recovery follows a near-total crop failure

The minister did not provide a harvest volume or an export forecast for the new crop. He contrasted this year’s plentiful harvest with the agricultural frost that left Malatya with almost none of its defining product last year. The recovery therefore signals improved raw-material availability, although the report did not specify quality grades, processing yields, inventories or expected prices.

Yumaklı placed the crop recovery in the broader context of climate change and geopolitical disruption, which he said had increased the strategic importance of agricultural production and made food-supply security a national-security issue. For the apricot business, the comparison between consecutive seasons illustrates the exposure of concentrated production areas to weather shocks and the resulting risk for growers, packers and export customers.

Irrigation and technology underpin capacity

Over the past 24 years, Malatya has received a total of 75 billion Turkish lira in investment and support for agriculture, forestry and water, Yumaklı said. The province has brought 117 irrigation facilities into service and opened 404,000 decares to irrigation. According to the minister, these projects generate an annual economic contribution of approximately 7 billion lira for Malatya.

Research and processing technology are another part of the production strategy. The Apricot Research Institute is working on new varieties and higher-value products, while a domestically developed apricot-pitting machine is expected to improve production efficiency. Turkey also introduced agricultural production planning in 2024, with the stated aim of strengthening the production infrastructure of individual cities.

Agriculture expands as Malatya rebuilds

The apricot recovery comes as Malatya continues rebuilding after the February 6 earthquakes. Yumaklı said the province has 53 geographically indicated products, led by apricots, and that irrigation, drinking-water and dam-rehabilitation projects remain under way. These measures are intended to raise agricultural capacity further, though no timetable or additional spending amount was given.

Yumaklı said Malatya’s crop production increased by 120% over the past 24 years, while its cattle population rose by 75% and its sheep and goat population by 55%. Poultry numbers increased 24-fold, aquaculture production ninefold and agricultural output value threefold over the same period. For apricot-market participants, however, the immediate development is the restoration of a commercially meaningful crop in a province that holds a central position in global dried-apricot supply.