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Turkish farmer finds new income stream with high-yield salep cultivation
🇹🇷 Turkey /Economy & Trade

Turkish farmer finds new income stream with high-yield salep cultivation

From Cumhuriyet · () Turkish

Translated from Turkish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • A farmer in Turkey's Yüksekova district has found success cultivating salep, a high-value endemic plant.
  • The farmer, Kerim Erişmiş, reported harvesting three to four salep tubers for each one planted, also achieving good results with saffron and garlic.
  • Local agricultural officials are promoting salep cultivation, noting its significant income potential, with dried salep fetching up to 15,000 Turkish Lira per kilogram.

Kerim Erişmiş, a farmer in Yoncalı village, Yüksekova district, has turned to cultivating salep, a protected endemic plant, and is reaping significant rewards. After 15 years in farming, Erişmiş has developed successful production techniques for salep, saffron, and garlic.

Today, in the harvest we carried out, we saw that we obtained three to four tubers from one tuber. This is very pleasing for us.

— Kerim ErişmişFarmer Kerim Erişmiş expresses his satisfaction with the salep harvest.

During a recent harvest, Erişmiş observed that each planted tuber yielded three to four new tubers. "This is very pleasing for us," he stated, expressing satisfaction with the results from saffron and garlic as well. He credits government support from the governorship and district administration for enabling increased production of these crops. The District Agriculture Directorate has provided salep cultivation training to many farmers, and Erişmiş strongly recommends it, believing it will provide substantial income in the coming years.

Yüksekova Chamber of Agriculture President Perviz Geçirgen highlighted that the perception that salep cannot grow in Yüksekova has been shattered. "We are now discussing not whether it can be produced, but how to market it," Geçirgen said, pointing to the successful harvest from a demonstration plot established last year. He believes this success positions Yüksekova as a potential major center for salep production.

We are now discussing not whether it can be produced, but how to market it.

— Perviz GeçirgenYüksekova Chamber of Agriculture President Perviz Geçirgen on the shift in focus for salep cultivation.

Murat İnan, Yüksekova District Director of Agriculture and Forestry, confirmed the success of the demonstration project initiated in November 2025, which involved planting salep, saffron, and garlic in Yoncalı village. The high yields validate the project's success. İnan noted the economic benefits, stating that fresh salep sells for 2,500-3,000 Turkish Lira per kilogram, while dried salep commands 14,000-15,000 Turkish Lira. The goal is to increase the number of farmers cultivating salep and saffron through new projects, thereby expanding the production of high-value crops.

Fresh salep kilogram price is 2,500-3,000 TL and dried salep kilogram price is 14,000-15,000 TL.

— Murat İnanYüksekova District Director of Agriculture and Forestry Murat İnan details the economic value of salep.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cumhuriyet in Turkish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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