The agricultural frost saddened apple growers in Niğde. Apple orchards were damaged due to the frost. Atilla Kaplan, the President of the Niğde Apple Producers Union, stated that Niğde is one of the leading provinces in apple production in Turkey. Reminding that they experienced a serious loss of yield last year due to temperature and drought, Kaplan said, “We are the region in Turkey that ranks 2nd in apple production.” He pointed out that the methods used for protection from frost do not make much of a difference. Kaplan mentioned that they continuously run sprinkler systems in the orchards to protect from frost. Explaining that at least 3 tons of water per hectare is needed, Kaplan said, “1 gram of water releases 80 calories when it freezes, covering the plant with ice. The ice stays at zero degrees under the ice and is protected from frost. We take these precautions, but they can only protect up to minus 6 degrees. There were areas dropping to as low as minus 9 to minus 19. In our region, it was minus 15.6 degrees. These freezing temperatures make the protection methods meaningless. With these methods, we can achieve only about a 2-degree increase in temperature, but in extreme situations, we truly feel helpless as producers.” “IT WAS EXTREMELY COLD” Kaplan pointed out that agricultural frost occurred in many regions across the country. He continued, “There is actually a problem nationwide. Isparta has a bit less. Some parts of Karaman are like us. The drop in temperature is more severe for us. If it’s minus 9 or minus 10 in Karaman, then it’s shown as minus 14.6 in the meteorological stations here. This will seriously affect production. We were expecting around 650,000 tons of yield, but we might get very little, or maybe none at all. Last year, we dropped to around 350,000 tons, and this year seems like it will be even lower. It really was extremely cold. It was not something we were expecting.” Kaplan emphasized that the state is always there for farmers. Mentioning their expectations for agricultural loans and grant support from the government, Kaplan stated, “This cold affected everything. Like in other regions, we are also expecting support from our government.”