A main tomato cultivation area, the Eceabat district in anakkale, has been stricken by the tomato moth, or tuta absoluta. Farmers have reportedly had to leave infected tomatoes in the fields to rot.
The farmers of Eceabat have lost the battle against the tomato moth, said the district s governor. The district is famous for its tasty and high quality tomatoes due to its climate, soil and particularly to its underground water. Eceabat tomatoes are in high demand from consumers as well.
Tons of tomatoes were left in the area s fields this year due to the infestation. Normally, nearly 400 hectares are cultivated and some 20,000 tons of tomatoes produced annually in Eceabat. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Eceabat District Gov. B lent Uygur said the main livelihood of the district was farming and that they had been holding awareness meetings against the pest together with the district s agricultural organizations.
The cultivators are implementing pest control methods individually, but this requires a widespread battle against the moth.
Agricultural engineer cal Gezen said the tomato moth was the leading tomato pest in Turkey for 2010, adding that it resulted in undeniably significant losses.
Pest control is available for the moth, but it involves strong synthetic pesticides. The cultivators had to apply these pesticides every eight or 10 days. The infection spreads via the boxes in which some yields or seedlings were previously stored.
A cultivator in Kocadere village of the district, G ray Ya n, on the other hand said they could still make money from tomatoes this year, but they had lost huge amounts of their crops due to infection.
According to a previous story published in the Daily News, the tomato moth has been wiping out greenhouse tomatoes, as well as those in the fields across Turkey. The pest reportedly spread from the Aegean province of zmir and from Bodrum in the southern province of Mu la to cover all of Anatolia. The article said if greenhouse farmers do not heed warnings, the pest will destroy greenhouse tomato crops.
The moth has endangered Turkey s tomato exports, as well. Following the spread of the tomato moth in tomatoes cultivated in Antalya and surrounding districts in June, Ukraine put a ban on tomato imports from Turkey, but the ban was short-lived as the issue has been resolved.
The farmers of Eceabat have lost the battle against the tomato moth, said the district s governor. The district is famous for its tasty and high quality tomatoes due to its climate, soil and particularly to its underground water. Eceabat tomatoes are in high demand from consumers as well.
Tons of tomatoes were left in the area s fields this year due to the infestation. Normally, nearly 400 hectares are cultivated and some 20,000 tons of tomatoes produced annually in Eceabat. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Eceabat District Gov. B lent Uygur said the main livelihood of the district was farming and that they had been holding awareness meetings against the pest together with the district s agricultural organizations.
The cultivators are implementing pest control methods individually, but this requires a widespread battle against the moth.
Agricultural engineer cal Gezen said the tomato moth was the leading tomato pest in Turkey for 2010, adding that it resulted in undeniably significant losses.
Pest control is available for the moth, but it involves strong synthetic pesticides. The cultivators had to apply these pesticides every eight or 10 days. The infection spreads via the boxes in which some yields or seedlings were previously stored.
A cultivator in Kocadere village of the district, G ray Ya n, on the other hand said they could still make money from tomatoes this year, but they had lost huge amounts of their crops due to infection.
According to a previous story published in the Daily News, the tomato moth has been wiping out greenhouse tomatoes, as well as those in the fields across Turkey. The pest reportedly spread from the Aegean province of zmir and from Bodrum in the southern province of Mu la to cover all of Anatolia. The article said if greenhouse farmers do not heed warnings, the pest will destroy greenhouse tomato crops.
The moth has endangered Turkey s tomato exports, as well. Following the spread of the tomato moth in tomatoes cultivated in Antalya and surrounding districts in June, Ukraine put a ban on tomato imports from Turkey, but the ban was short-lived as the issue has been resolved.
