Strawberry culture in Turkey

Turkey strawberry production consistently increased since the beginning of strawberry culture in 1965. In the last 10 years, strawberry production has shown a dramatic increase from 150,000 (2003) to 376,070 t (2014), making Turkey the fourth largest strawberry producer in the world after China, USA and Mexico. Main strawberry producing regions in Turkey are Mediterranean (52.1%), Aegean (24.7%), and Marmara (14.6%). In the Mediterranean region, Mersin city has achieved 35% of total production followed by Aydın, Antalya, Bursa and Konya cities. Strawberry export of Turkey also increased year by year. Strawberry export of Turkey was 24,774 t in 2013 and 11,870 t was exported to the Russian Federation. Protected strawberry culture has also an increasing trend. High tunnels account for 1/3 of the current production, followed by mini tunnels. Annual hill plastic culture system is a common practice in Turkey’s strawberry growing. The strawberry nurseries are generally located in Central Anatolia region, mostly around Cappadocia. Frigo plants are still dominating in production. There are several strawberry cultivars bred and registered in Turkey although they have not been utilized on a large commercial scale in production. In recent years, ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Sweet Charlie’ cultivars have been replaced by cultivars such as ‘Rubygem’, ‘Festival’, ‘Albion’, ‘Florida Fortuna’, and ‘Camino Real’. Soilless culture in strawberry growing is also developing in Turkey. In this article, the current status of strawberry production, developments in strawberry growing techniques and nursery plant sector, as well as future projection of strawberry industry are evaluated.