Turkish farmer uses micro-climate for kiwi crop

KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey

Taking advantage of a micro climate, or distinctive climate of a small-scale area, a farmer in southern Turkey has managed to cultivate kiwis, a fruit normally seen in the country's Black Sea Region, according to local officials.

While the southern Kahramanmaras province has a largely Mediterranean climate, parts of the Onikisubat district are more like the Black Sea.

Three years ago “we established a modern kiwi garden in the Suluyayla area. We got very good results.

The kiwi grows here like in the Black Sea. The quality is also quite high,” Ihsan Emiralioglu, provincial director of the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

Ahead of the project, they noted the local microclimate, and researched what crops could grow well and fetch a good price, he said.

"We expect that kiwi production in our region will rise in the years to come," he added.

Emiralioglu also mentioned how hazelnuts -- another Black Sea staple -- are raised in the region.

Farmer Adem Demirel planted 250 kiwi saplings in his garden in 2013, and expects a yield of seven tons this year, up sharply from four last year.

Demirel told Anadolu Agency that he started to grow kiwis in his garden at the urging of local agriculture officials.

"After a field inspection, they gave me 250 seedlings as support. From the third year on, we got a harvest of about four tons of fruit," he said.

He added that he also wants to grow tea, another specialty of Turkey’s Black Sea region.

Reporting by Ismail Hakki Demir; Writing by Fatma Bulbul