Türkiye, which has more than 3,500 endemic plant species in its flora, exports cut flowers, indoor and outdoor plants, bulbs, seedlings, saplings, wreaths, and moss groups.
Extending the export season to 12 months with greenhouse and highland production, the floristry sector sends products to 85 countries, primarily European countries.
Ismail Yilmaz, Chairman of the Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters Association, said that they completed the year with Christmas wreath exports before Christmas.
Stating that after the feverish work in November and December, 3 million wreaths were sent all over the world, mainly to the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Romania, and Bulgaria, Yilmaz stated that they generated approximately 10 million USD in revenue from these sales.
Yilmaz added that in the same period, besides the New Year's wreaths, approximately 7 million dollars of carnations were exported.
Noting that the export figures decreased in 2022 compared to the previous year, Yilmaz said that the export, which was approximately 150 million USD in 2021, declined to 145 million USD in 2022. The heavy snow in Isparta last year caused serious damage to the greenhouses where cut flower production was made, and as a result, the desired amount of product could not be shipped from the city.
Ismail Yilmaz stated that among cut flowers, carnations are the most exported product and continued as follows:
"Export activities are mainly centered around carnations, but we have started to offer different products to the market in the last few years. The dianthus barbatus variety has been a product whose export has increased rapidly in recent years. Apart from this, we have started to try many varieties. There are green flowers used in flower arrangements, such as ruscus and aspdistra. We are trying to grow these varieties domestically as well, and in a few years, our number of varieties will have increased a lot.
European countries are the main market for cut flowers, and countries such as Gulf countries, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Iraq are important markets for outdoor and indoor plants, and we hope that exports will grow to the target levels with the increase in product diversity.
The biggest market of the sector is the Netherlands for carnation exports, followed by England, Germany, Romania, and Bulgaria. The majority of the production of cut flowers is made in Antalya and Isparta on a total area of 700 hectares.
On the other hand, outdoor plants are cultivated in an area of 3.500 hectares, and indoor plants are produced in an area of close to 300 hectares, primarily in Adana and Mersin and in some regions in the Yalova region.
In total Turkish floriculture industry covers a production area of 5.500 hectares. Nearly 300,000 people earn their living through floriculture and the majority of this workforce works in cut flower production, which requires a more intensive labor force where 1 worker is required per 1,000 square meters of cut flower production area.
We are hopeful for 2023, and we aim to increase the number of products rather than the number of exported countries. Türkiye has access to a 17 billion USD market within a 3 to 5-hour flight radius, yet our market share remains quite low. We need to get a share of 2 or 3% from this market which will increase our export turnover exponentially and help us go over 500 million USD annually."
Source: TRT Haber