Farmers who stopped planting potatoes in Derinkuyu district of Nevşehir, responding to the needs of Türkiye and the Turkish Republics with the strawberry seedlings they produce.

When the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry stopped the cultivation of potatoes in 2004 due to the potato wart disease in some agricultural areas in the district, the landowners turned to alternative products.

With the start of growing strawberries in the quarantined lands, the production of strawberry seedlings in other areas was emphasized.

The farmers, who started to produce strawberries in addition to beans and pumpkin seeds as an alternative to potatoes, are now on their way to branding with the name "Derinkuyu strawberry".

Nevşehir Governor's Office applied to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office for the registration of "Derinkuyu strawberry" as a geographical indication in the district, where its dried beans were previously registered.

Bünyamin Çiçek, who grows strawberry seedlings on an area of approximately 300 decares, that they grow an average of 10 million strawberry seedlings per year and that they are trying to expand their planting areas to meet the demands.

Expressing that he recommends strawberry cultivation to other farmers, Çiçek pointed out that development agencies and cooperatives support this issue.

Çiçek stated that he believes that strawberry will be an important source of income for the district in the future.

"We started to grow apples, beans and strawberries as an alternative product in 2005. We continued production with strawberries. We started to produce seedlings in 2013. Thanks to the suitable climate conditions, soil structure and abundant water in Derinkuyu, productive seedlings are grown. Strawberries are planted on the spot, we send their seedlings to the whole country. There has been hope for the immigrant villages, especially in the Southeast. Migration has stopped there, the economy has revived. It has been planted in the Mediterranean region for many years, we supply the seedlings there. Also, we export to countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan. Approximately 100-150 million seedlings are produced in Türkiye, 10 million of which are produced by us"

Murat Avcı, who produces on an area of 85 decares in the district, said that strawberry cultivation has become widespread in many regions in recent years.

Expressing that some of the areas where potatoes were planted before were turned into strawberry fields and that two producers in the region grew seedlings, Avcı said that fruit production was also carried out on approximately 100 decares of land belonging to other farmers.

Stating that strawberries are more profitable than potatoes, Avcı said, "For potatoes, the seed needs to be renewed every year, but the same strawberry seedling can be harvested for three years. Strawberry seedlings planted in this region are generally for places with an altitude above 800 meters. higher.”

Avcı emphasized that they turned to this product because they realized that Derinkuyu's land structure is suitable for strawberry and seedling production; "We send the seedlings to all over Türkiye. In addition, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have started to produce their own fruit. They meet their seedling needs from here. Our next target is frozen strawberries. We are establishing a facility to pack them and put them on the market during the winter period, when there is no strawberry."

85% of the seedling production in the city is made in Derinkuyu

Özgür Memiş, Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that the production and sales of strawberry seedlings increase every year and said: "In our city, strawberry seedlings are produced on 275 decares of land and strawberry fruit is produced on an area of 1850 decares. 85% of the strawberry seedlings in the province are produced in our Derinkuyu district. "In 2020, 200 thousand strawberry seedlings were exported from our province. This figure reached 1 million 150 thousand in the 7 months of 2021. A total of 25 million strawberry seedlings are produced in our province. The monetary value of this is around 45 million Turkish Liras."

Source: Anadolu Ajansı