An unusually cold period in Turkey, with among other things frost-damaged plants, has caused the price of hazelnuts to start rising already before the harvest season, reports the news agency NTB.
According to the commodity platform Vesper BV, one ton of hazelnuts now costs 9,400 euros, which is an increase of 34 percent since the beginning of the year.
Approximately 60 percent of the world's hazelnuts are grown in the lush mountain landscape by the Turkish Black Sea coast, where the crops are called the green gold due to their economic importance.
That this year's harvest is now largely ruined has caused Turkey's Minister of Agriculture to call what has happened "one of the worst frost periods for agriculture in the country's history".
Researchers point out that extreme weather caused by climate change is behind the vulnerability of agriculture.
The losses have been partially compensated for by surpluses from previous harvests and from production in other countries.
