In this episode, the AgroTroia "Success in Agriculture" team was in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş, at the orchard of Hüseyin Sert, who applies AgroTroia's walnut nutrition program. The team had also filmed at the same orchard last year; this year they came again to show the continuity of success. AgroTroia board member Umut Dönmez, orchard owner farmer Hüseyin Sert, regional dealer Duran Hasırcı, sales representative Cemal Kurt, and agricultural engineers Simge and Nuh explained why this orchard, managed with correct care and nutrition, stood firm despite the frost, drought, and excessive heat that struck the region.
A four-year walnut success in Pazarcık
At the opening of the program, the emphasis that stood out was that success was spread not over a single season but over years. Orchard owner Hüseyin Sert, after living abroad for years, uprooted the pistachio orchard inherited from his father and converted this water-rich land to walnuts. However, mistakes made in the early years almost destroyed the orchard: the intensive nitrogen-rich "sugar fertilizer" applied to the young saplings four or five times a year practically poisoned the trees, and the orchard went back two or three years. The solution came from an experienced agriculturalist who diagnosed the excessive nitrogen given to the trees. In the last four years of working with AgroTroia, the same program has been consistently applied. Last year, because excessive rainfall during the pollination period struck the flowers, the walnut kernels remained empty and weak; this year, however, the orchard has visibly recovered.
Agricultural consultancy: nutrition at the right dose, in the right period
Umut Dönmez explained that AgroTroia has, over the years, turned into more than a project partner—into a family; that they work with a team of agricultural engineers numbering eleven or twelve in the field. According to him, the greatest value offered to the farmer is not so much product sales as the agricultural consultancy provided free of charge. Unlike the farmer who for years has been deceived with claims like "throw this on too, throw that on too, let your tree shine," AgroTroia's approach is clear: whatever the tree needs is given in the right period and at the right dose; not even a spoonful of excess fertilizer is given to the tree. The company does not produce licensed plant protection products; however, it recommends to the farmer, free of charge, which active ingredient to use against which pest. Agricultural engineer Simge, for her part, emphasized that the key word in walnuts is timing: the program has eight stages applied from after harvest to the next harvest, and each application falls in a specific period. Even a one-day delay can lead to serious loss; conversely, applications made on time can save the orchard even after disasters such as frost and hail.
Against frost and heat: water, pollination, and timing
Sales representative Cemal Kurt explained that the general picture in the region is very weak; that in many of the surrounding orchards there is almost no fruit at all. The main reason for this is a severe frost event: in many places, because water could not be given to the trees, the trees froze and the fruit buds were destroyed. Yet a tree with active water inside is more resistant to frost; in this orchard, the abundance of water and a good pollination caught during the flowering period made the difference. Regional dealer Duran Hasırcı conveyed that no success is a coincidence; that on the night frost was expected, before the frost even occurred, they made the application and then opened the drip water, rapidly bringing the trees back. He even recounted that, with an application he had carried out in a customer's orchard while it was snowing, that orchard was protected while all the surrounding orchards were struck. Although it is not possible to control cold and heat, it is possible to reduce the damage with planned nutrition and correct timing; in this orchard, the frost loss remained at most around ten to twenty percent. Although small sunburns were seen in the region, where the temperature occasionally reached 60 degrees, no economic damage occurred.
The correct fertilization calendar in walnuts: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
Agricultural engineer Nuh explained in detail that timing determines the foundation of correct nutrition in walnuts. The biggest mistake is trying to wake the trees with excessive nitrogen or urea in the early spring period; this increases shoots while also increasing fruit drop, and at the same time triggers anthracnose, phytophthora, and armillaria root rot. The correct time for nitrogen is after fruit set has occurred, in the chickpea-grain to egg-size period; in this period nitrogen widens the fruit wall, increasing the caliber, and since the temperature rises above 30 degrees, fungal infections also recede. Since base fertilizer takes 70-90 days to dissolve, it must be given about 75-80 days before the period when the tree opens; fertilizer applied too early is washed away by winter rains and goes to waste. Since our soils are generally deficient in zinc in walnut orchards, zinc fertilizers are important. Starting potassium early, on the other hand, ages the tree prematurely and lowers the caliber; therefore potassium should be continued until mid-August. To obtain a yield from phosphorus, application together with liquid sulfur comes to the fore under high lime and pH conditions; it was noted that calcium nitrate given with nitrogen locks the soil and prevents benefiting from phosphorus during the flowering period.
Combating diseases and trunk application
Simge explained that the biggest scourges of walnuts are bacterial blight, anthracnose, and phytophthora; that these must be intervened in at the early symptom stage. When the disease advances too far and turns into gummosis on the trunk, there is no chance to intervene in a completely dried tree. The Chandler variety in particular has high sensitivity to these diseases; in an orchard on the Lapseki side, three of 500 trees reached the point of complete drying. AgroTroia's solution is built on supporting the plant's condition without increasing the chemical toxin load. Against bacterial blight and phytophthora, trunk application is made with Activo, Fosforiko, and Copperas; cultural measures are also taken against root collar rot. Nuh emphasized that the licensed fungicides used suppress the disease for only 10 days, with the disease continuing on the eleventh day; therefore, repairing the conduction bundles by increasing transport within the plant is the permanent solution. When this orchard was entered four years ago, there were large cracks on the trunks due to nitrogen phytotoxicity; with the trunk application, these cracks were closed and the disease was forestalled. Today, while there is almost nothing to speak of in terms of trees in the region, the set and calibration in this orchard are remarkably good.
AgroTroia products featured in the episode
- Activo – the plant condition support product used in trunk application against bacterial blight and phytophthora.
- Copperas – the fundamental product of the application against root collar rot and trunk diseases.
This walnut orchard in Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık showed how nutrition done with correct timing, conscious irrigation-drainage management, and early control of diseases make a difference in walnuts, despite the frost, drought, and excessive heat that struck the region. With consistent care spread over four years, both this year's crop and next year's yield are secured. May God grant all our producers abundant harvests.
Source: AgroTroia – "Success in Agriculture" program, sponsored by AgroTroia.