In Taşköprü district of Kastamonu, the harvest of Taşköprü garlic registered by the European Union has started. A 30 percent yield loss is expected due to the freckle disease.
The harvest of the world-famous Taşköprü garlic, registered by the European Union (EU) and the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, has started in Taşköprü district of Kastamonu. Intensive work is being spent to collect Taşköprü garlic, which has gained world fame with its flavor and selenium content, from the fields. Taşköprü garlic, which is the livelihood of 5 thousand families in Kastamonu, was planted on 24 thousand decares this year. Freckle disease hit Taşköprü garlic, which was planted in an area about 30 percent less than last year. The disease in the freckles of Taşköprü garlic prevented the garlic from growing. For this reason, approximately 30 percent yield loss is expected in Taşköprü garlic.
Hasan Yıldırım, who is a garlic producer in Taşköprü, said, “Production fell this year. There is a disease called freckle disease in garlic this year. In order to solve this disease, our agriculturalists have not worked on this issue until today. There has been this disease for years. But over time, this freckle disease has multiplied in our region. It causes us trouble,” he said.
“The disease that occurs in the freckles of garlic prevents its growth”
Stating that garlic cannot grow due to the disease that occurs in freckles, Yıldırım said, “Freckle disease only prevents garlic from growing. There is no harm for human health, but since garlic cannot grow, there is a loss of yield. Citizens should not say, ‘There is a disease in garlic’. Because there is nothing in garlic. It remains small only because it cannot grow due to the freckles of garlic. As the garlic grows, it stays like this, no matter how it caught this disease. We are in great trouble because of this. Currently, planting has fallen by around 30 percent compared to last year. Due to the freckle disease in garlic, the yield dropped by around 30 percent. For example, while I should get around 800-900 kilograms of garlic per acre from my field, this year I will only be able to get 300-400 kilograms. This affects the producers very much,” he said.
“We plant garlic in winter and harvest it in spring”
Aysel Topçu, the head of workers in the village of Alatarla in Taşköprü district, said, “We have been dealing with garlic for years. We are also farmers, we labor. I have been the daily chairman for 13 years. We cannot get the return for our labor. We plant garlic in winter and harvest it in spring. During this time, we weed and hoe it. Removing it from the soil, weeding, tying it; every stage of garlic is difficult, but the farmer never gets the reward for his labor. This year our harvest has started, thank God. Our garlic is sick this year. There are good places and bad places. It is what God gave us, there is nothing we can do. That’s all we have,” he said.
