Sent around the world: fresh eggplants fetch 18 lira a kilo, dried ones up to 4,000 lira per thousand

The eggplant harvest has begun in Oğuzeli, a district of Gaziantep, as households prepare supplies for the winter. Workers collect the fresh vegetables in fields along Alpaslan Türkeş Boulevard in Cumhuriyet neighbourhood.

Women then hollow out the eggplants one by one at home. The vegetables are threaded onto strings and left to dry in the sun, becoming the dried eggplant shells used for stuffed dishes. Fresh eggplants sell for 18 Turkish lira per kilogram, while 1,000 dried pieces bring between 3,500 and 4,000 lira.

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The 2026 eggplant harvest season has started. We grow the eggplants for stuffing in the fields. Then the eggplants are hollowed out at home, threaded onto strings and laid out to dry.

Farmer Mehmet Murat said the 2026 harvest season had started and that fields produced an average of 400 to 500 kilograms per decare. Once dried, the products are shipped throughout Türkiye and to many parts of the world. He said he was satisfied with the season so far, although the work requires substantial labour and both harvesting and hollowing are difficult.

Worker Seher Hatip said harvesting begins at about 6 a.m. and ends around noon because of the intense heat. “The harvest is a little difficult, but we have to work for our livelihood,” she said.

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The harvest is a little difficult, but we have to work for our livelihood.