Mugla: an area with all year around potato farming

Despite being known to host some of the most popular seaside and summer tourism spots such as Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye, Didim and Datca, Mugla is yet to become a rising star for potato growing due to its unique advantage of making potato growing possible all year around.

Muğla Director of Agriculture and Forestry Barış Saylak said that they aim to expand the cultivation area of potatoes, which can be grown in the city at any time of the year, and increase product diversity.

Vegetables and fruits grown in the fertile soils of Muğla, which has a diversity of products in agriculture, adorn the tables at home and abroad.

Thanks to the city’s favorable climate, potatoes, which can be produced for 12 months in both highlands and plateaus, also provide added value for the national economy.

Projects are carried out under the leadership of Muğla Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry to expand potato cultivation areas and ensure diversity in the product.

In this context, efforts to support farmers and to develop seeds for new species suitable for the soil and climate structure of the region stand out.

Muğlalı farmers, who are currently harvesting potatoes, are quite satisfied with the yield and price.

A prosperous season for potato growing in Turkey

Muğla Director of Agriculture and Forestry Saylak told AA (Anatolian News Agency) correspondent that they have started the last harvest of the season.

Saylak pointed out that due to the favorable climate in Mugla, the first and the last early crops can be made for potatoes at the same time, and said, “In Muğla, the paradise on earth, a wide variety of agriculture is carried out at very different elevations. Potato is one of them. We are currently harvesting potatoes in approximately 400 hectares of land in Bekciler and Doganlar neighborhoods of Seydikemer district. We are having an extremely abundant season.”

Stating that potato harvesting cannot be done in many cities in Turkey during these months, Saylak said that potato production is carried out both on the coast and in the highlands of Mugla.

Saylak said, “We are cultivating the first seasonal potato of the year in April in Datca at the altitude of the seafront and we are realizing a first in Turkey. We offer our potatoes to the market in all year around with potato farming on approximately 1000 hectares of land throughout the province.”

Stating that they started the practice of providing seed support to farmers years ago, Saylak said, “Within the scope of the project we have prepared, we will distribute new varieties of potato seeds to our growers in the city next year and try new varieties. We aim to increase the yield per hectare. We do not have a very large production, as a popular spot where potato farming is possible all year around, our producers and consumers are extremely lucky in this regard.”