The Modern Farmer had a fascinating article this week on the production of tea in Turkey. According to the article, the people of Turkey consume more tea per capita than any other country in the world. To provide all this tea, Turkey started growing tea along the eastern shore of the Black Sea, and it is now the 5th largest producer of tea worldwide. Because of its northern latitude, tea cannot be produced there year-round but is only harvested three times a year. These harvests have been disrupted in recent years by extreme weather, including a heavy frost last spring that delayed production by several weeks. Heavy rain in 2010 also destroyed some tea plantations due to landslides. In addition, there is increasing pressure on the land from developers and erosion caused by construction. You can read the article here.
