Hazelnut production in Turkey is important as Turkey cultivates and processes most of the world's

hazelnuts The hazelnut is the nut (fruit), fruit of the hazel, hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or fil ...

History and geography

There are accounts dating back to 1500 BC of hazelnuts being cultivated in the Black Sea region (historically Lazistan) and the Turkish historian

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

described hazelnut orchards in the 1650s, during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The hazelnut plantations are mainly located in the Black Sea region between

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District.Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

and Kocaeli. Most hazelnuts are grown in the provinces of

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District.Giresun Giresun () is a city in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. It is the seat of Giresun Province and Giresun District.Sakarya and

Düzce Düzce () is a city in northwestern Turkey, the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first Provinces of Turkey, province in the country. It is the seat of Düzce District. As many young people have moved to cities farmers tend to be older.

Orchards

Several traditional

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s of

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

tree account for the bulk of the harvest, such as ''Tombul'', ''Çakıldak'', ''Foşa'' and ''Sivri'', but since 2012 an ambitious breeding program led to cultivars with a faster ripening process. Harvesting and drying is usually in August. Average farm size is about 3 hectares and often steeply sloping: this size is said to be due to division on inhertitance and too small. Hazelnut plantations are widespread and approximately 400,000 families are in possession of an orchard. After criticism that children have been employed harvesting hazelnuts, Ferrero, one of the main clients of the hazelnut industry and the producer of

Nutella Nutella ( , , ; stylized in all lowercase) is a brand of brown, sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and was introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963. History Pietro ...

, started a Farming Values Programme in 2012. Balsu and

Olam International Olam International is an agri-business company, operating in 60 countries and supplying food and industrial raw materials to over 20,900 customers worldwide, placing them among the world's largest suppliers of cocoa beans, coffee, cotton a ...

, two other major enterprises involved in the industry, have also begun to tackle child labor in co-operation with

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

and the Turkish Government. Hazelnut production in Turkey rose steadily after 1964, when a law on a ''Guarantee of Purchase'' was introduced, after which a large part of the peasants in the Black Sea region became hazelnut cultivators. Thereafter, Turkey became the most important producer of hazelnuts and exports to more than a 100 countries. Over half the production cost is labour, and the largest cost is for harvesting. The largest environmental impact is from synthetic fertiliser use and it has been suggested that the yield should be studied for different soils and fertiliser use varied accordingly. It has also been suggested that farmers should be supported in the 3 year transition to organic farming. As of 2023 there is not much organic farming, due to the difficulties of getting enough nitrogen into the soil and controlling some pests, especially nut weevil.

Pests

The damages on the hazelnut industry in Turkey has been estimated to be US$200 million in 2017, US$300 million in 2018 and is mainly attributed to the brown marmorated stink bug,

green stink bug The green stink bug or green soldier bug (''Chinavia hilaris'') is a stink bug of the family Pentatomidae. Taxonomy The species was previously placed in the genus ''Acrosternum'' but has been classified as in the genus ''Chinavia'' in the more ...

and the

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...

Brown marmorated stink bug

The stink bug was first reported in

Levent Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in September 2017. In October of the same year it was observed in

Artvin Province Artvin Province (; Armenian language, Armenian: Արտվինի նահանգ ''Artvini nahang''; ka, , ''Artvinis p'rovintsia''; Laz language, Laz: ართვინიშ დობადონა ''Artvinish dobadona;'') is a Provinces of Turke ...

and the species has rapidly spread to other areas in Eastern Black Sea Region, where most of the hazelnut production occurs. The bug is believed to have entered the country through Georgia, as it was initially reported in Kemalpaşa, Artvin just few kilometers away from the border between both countries. Celal Tuncer, a professor from the Ondokuz Mayıs University has stated that the bug has already caused a 20% drop in Artvin's hazelnut yield and is expected to cause a 50% drop in hazelnut production and quality in the future. According to Tuncer these drops would lead to US$1 billion in damages to hazelnut producers.{{Cite web , title=Karadeniz'de yeni tehlike: Kahverengi kokarca , url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2020/ekonomi/karadenizde-yeni-tehlike-kahverengi-kokarca-5594804/ , access-date=2022-12-20 , website=www.sozcu.com.tr , date=29 January 2020 , language=tr

References

Turkish business culture Agriculture in Turkey