Agricultural frost, which was effective in 36 provinces of Turkey in April, caused great damage to important agricultural products such as apricots, grapes, figs, apples, plums, cherries and hazelnuts. Cold weather conditions and snowfall caused damage in many agricultural regions, especially in Malatya, Elâzığ, Manisa, İzmir, Uşak and Denizli. Apricot trees in Malatya were severely damaged due to agricultural frost and damage assessment studies were initiated. In Elazığ, almond, grape and apricot trees suffered great losses.
Vineyards in Manisa, grape and cherry trees in Izmir, fruit trees in Uşak and Denizli were also severely damaged due to agricultural frost. In addition, fruit trees were similarly affected in Bursa, Eskişehir, Çanakkale and Tekirdağ. In the Black Sea Region, hazelnut and tea gardens were damaged and agricultural frost was effective especially in Trabzon and Ordu.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and local administrations continue to carry out surveys in damaged agricultural areas. Producers apply to the Alo TARSIM hotline to report the damages of their insured products. Provincial Directorates of Agriculture and Forestry, on the other hand, make examinations in the field and clarify the scope of the damage. This challenging process reveals the importance of the support to be provided to producers by local administrations and relevant institutions. In addition to production losses, it is stated that agricultural frost may have long-term effects on Turkey’s important agricultural products. Experts emphasise that agricultural policies should be reviewed and effective measures should be taken quickly to prevent similar events from happening again in the future.
In the Official Gazette dated 17 April 2025 and numbered 32873, the decision on the establishment of a parliamentary research commission to investigate the consequences of the agricultural frost event that took place in our country in April 2025, to determine the damages suffered by producers and agricultural products and to determine the measures to be taken to minimize the effects of similar events that may occur in the future was published.
