Physical and Cultural Weed Control Working Group of - European ...

9 th EWRS Workshop on Physical and Cultural Weed Control 2
Samsun, Turkey, 28 – 30 March 2011
General information about organic agriculture and
physical and cultural weed control in Turkey
Husrev Mennan 1 , Sezgin Uzun 2 , Onur Kolören 3 , Emine Kaya-Altop 1 , and Doğan Işık 4
1 Department of Plant Protection, Agriculture Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Samsun,
Turkey
2 Department of Horticulture, Agriculture Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Samsun,
Turkey
3 Department of Plant Protection, Agriculture Faculty, Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey
4 Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute, Samsun, Turkey
Turkey is a major producer and exporter of various agricultural products. Organic agriculture
was commenced with the international demand from major export partners. Production has been
realized according to the standards and certification systems of the importing countries, which were
mainly EU countries. Currently 103.190 hectares of agricultural land are cultivated organically,
which corresponds to 0.4% of the total agricultural area. Initially, dried grape and dried fig was
(were) the main organic products exported from Aegean Region. By the time new products such as
dried apricot and nuts, were added to the export products and organic agricultural export spread to
all regions in Turkey. In order to be harmonious with the organic farming improvements in EU,
with the collaboration of some organizations, institutions and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs, regulation on ‘Methods of Organic Production of Vegetal and Livestock Products’ came
into force after it was published in Official Gazette. The new regulation contains rules, techniques
and requirements for the production and processing of vegetal and animal products, harvesting of
the crops, labeling, packing, storage, transportation, inspection, certification and marketing. There
are two levels of organic farming in Turkey, namely, certified organic production and non-certified
or agro-ecological farming. Certified production is mostly geared to products destined for export to
EU. Non-certified products are being tried to be introduced in small province to Turkish consumers
Organic producers have limited tools for managing weeds. Numerous surveys of organic
producers reveal that weed control remains a major concern for practicing farmers and is a barrier to
converting to organic management by transitioning farmers. Mechanical cultivation and hand
hoeing are the most common methods used to control weeds in organic production in Turkey. But,
the details of other weed management approaches used will obviously vary from crop to crop. We
have drawn some of information that obtained in organic weed management for specific crops
based on the results of research work and practical experience in Turkey.
Crop management
This methods including choosing varieties, seeding rate, crop spacing and crop establishment.
The most effective way to control weed growth is to have highly competitive crops. (i.e. rice).
Mulching
This method provides a physical barrier to weed development and it is often used in
horticultural crops to control weeds (i.e. vegetables, citrus, and wineyard)
Allelopathy
Some plant species compete with each other by releasing chemical substances that inhibit
the growth of other plants.