He Saw It on Television and Planted It as an Alternative: Now His Fields Are Bursting with Berries

Mehmet Ceylan was looking for an alternative crop when a television report led him to try raspberry farming. He planted one row in the first year, saw that the crop grew successfully, and then expanded. His garden near Edirne now covers about 2,700 square meters, with raspberries on 1,500 square meters and blackberries on 1,200.

“I decided while sitting at the coffeehouse. I said, let’s work with something tropical and try a different product,” Ceylan told Anadolu Agency. “We saw it by chance on television, and we liked it. In the first year we tried just one row. We saw that it worked here. If we lost money, we could call it a profit if we turned back from there. We liked it, it worked, and now we have expanded it.”

Ceylan said the garden contains about 300 to 400 raspberry plants. He also planted more than 300 blackberry plants so he could continue harvesting after the raspberry season. He plans to expand further and has room for another 200 to 300 plants. He grows the Polka and Aksu Pembesi varieties, saying Polka produces for much longer. “Aksu Pembesi has a short life. It produces and then it ends. But the variety we call Polka produces almost throughout the year,” he said.

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I decided while sitting at the coffeehouse. I said, let’s work with something tropical and try a different product.

The season has nevertheless been hit by hail. Ceylan had expected about one ton this year, but said hail in June caused roughly 60% damage. He now expects to harvest 300 to 400 kilograms, or about 40% of the original expectation. He said raspberry plants can reach about 1.5 tons per decare in their third year, a level he hopes to achieve in the coming years.

Raspberries require frequent harvesting because ripe fruit can fall if left unattended. Ceylan enters the garden every two days during the season, which lasts about one and a half to two months. He said the fruit has attracted demand from bakeries and ice cream businesses. Because hail reduced this year’s supply, he has mainly sold the remaining crop within the village, although he said marketing has not been a problem.

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Aksu Pembesi has a short life. It produces and then it ends. But the variety we call Polka produces almost throughout the year.