Konya marul growers suffer losses as oversupply pushes prices below cost

In Konya’s fertile plains, lettuce farmers have expanded production to roughly 700 decares, but the surge in supply has driven field prices to 5‑7 TL per kilogram, wholesale prices to 10‑25 TL and retail prices to 50 TL and above. The cost of growing lettuce remains 8‑10 TL per kilogram, meaning producers are selling below cost.

Farmer Hikmet Aslan, who cultivates the bulk of the crop, warned that unsold lettuce risks rotting in the fields and that the current market conditions could jeopardise the next season’s planting. He estimates the total annual expenses for labour, irrigation, seedlings, chemicals and fertiliser at 40‑50 million TL. The price collapse has left growers with little profit and heightened concerns about the sustainability of lettuce production in the region.