In this episode of AgroTroia's "Success in Agriculture" program, the AgroTroia team is a guest in İlyaslar village in the Kırkağaç district of Manisa. Host Cemil Bektaş and AgroTroia consultant Zafer Bey visit, for the first time in their grove, the olive growers Adnan Bey and Belkıs Hanım with whom they had long spoken by phone; then, together with agricultural engineers Murat, Yusuf and Reşat Bey, the olive nutrition program and the measures to be taken in changing climate conditions are addressed. In a roughly 80-decare open-field olive grove, the success brought by a years-long friendship and the right nutrition choice is shared.
A story of success and friendship in İlyaslar
The first part of the program is devoted to a trust relationship built over the phone coming face to face in the grove. Belkıs Hanım recounts that it was difficult to make her husband Adnan Bey give up the Bordeaux mixture he had used for years, and that she procured the product she saw on screen herself and had it applied. After one season, the strong shoots and yield the trees gave surprised the grower. The picture specific to the region is also put on the table: the decline of the young population engaged in agriculture, the closing of village schools, and the grower's need to turn to correct, economical solutions in the face of costs. The team emphasizes the importance of researching more affordable products that do the same job, and of conscious production based on soil, leaf and water analysis.
Featured AgroTroia products in this episode
- Copperas — a copper-based application recommended as an alternative to Bordeaux mixture.
Set and drop care in olives after flowering
Agricultural engineer Murat Bey shows that fruit set has occurred and that the olives have reached pellet size and begun to separate from the petals. At this stage the goal changes: now, as much as setting the fruit, holding the formed olives on the tree and preventing drop becomes important. For this, an application of New Olive, specially formulated for olives and containing numerous micronutrients, is recommended. Calcium is used to thicken the fruit stalks, and supportive applications come into play to reduce the stress that day-night temperature differences create on the tree. Murat Bey draws attention to the cotton aphid, which is seen intensely in groves during this period and whose population grows rapidly, noting that the pest must be brought under control with intervention at exactly the right place and time.
Featured AgroTroia products in this episode
- New Olive — a nutrition product specially formulated for olives, containing micronutrients.
- Calcio — a calcium application that reduces drop loss by thickening the fruit stalks.
Copperas instead of Bordeaux mixture: a field comparison
Agricultural engineer Yusuf Bey says that the grove they are in has not been treated, while the grove right next to it has gone through regular treatment. Although the untreated grove had Bordeaux mixture applied twice and an expensive high-copper product once, a marked grayness is seen in the trees, drop in the set fruit, and serious peacock spot damage. Yusuf Bey reports that this season was one of the years peacock spot did the most damage, whereas in groves where Copperas was applied the same picture did not form. He emphasizes that the copper in Copperas is deliberately kept low; that what does the work is not the copper but the organic acids and supplements it contains. The product fights disease with a systemic structure that works into the plant rather than coating it from outside. Yusuf Bey notes that this difference is also created with specific applications such as Activo and phosphoric acid.
Featured AgroTroia products in this episode
- Copperas — a copper-based application that works into the plant against peacock spot.
- Activo — an organic acid-containing supplement product that makes a difference in the plant.
Changing climate and the measures to be taken
Agricultural engineer Reşat Bey explains that climate change is seriously affecting agricultural production, and that this year early waking of about 20-25 days was experienced compared to other years. With early formation, the temperature difference between night and day leads to flower and fruit burns in some regions; this week, African-origin temperatures reaching 40 degrees are expected. Under these conditions, Reşat Bey recommends applying seaweed-based Ocean Mix together with calcium nitrate products: seaweed protects the plant by reducing the effect of the temperature difference, while calcium increases resistance to shock by thickening the cell wall and prevents drop by strengthening the olive stalks. It is emphasized that nutrition must not be abandoned, that damage must be minimized with a strong immune system, and that the fight against the cotton aphid and the moth must be continued. Early preparation against the approaching anthracnose danger is also recommended.
Featured AgroTroia products in this episode
- Calcio — a calcium application that protects against temperature shock and drop by thickening the cell wall.
How Copperas works: shoot and disease management
Reşat Bey explains why they recommended Copperas in this grove where Bordeaux mixture and high-copper products gave no results. High-copper products, which are mostly contact-acting, after a certain level create a phytotoxic effect in the plant and block the shoot mechanism. In Copperas, however, what does the work is not high copper; it is the organic acids, nutritive elements, free amino acids and enzymes it contains. Thanks to this structure, the product, instead of coating the outer surface of the leaf, goes directly to the plant's conductive tissues, activating the shoot mechanism and supporting the olive's growth. Even though it drops the diseased leaf affected by peacock spot, it immediately encourages the formation of new leaves, quickly compensating for the loss. Reşat Bey notes that as the season progresses 500 grams of Copperas per 100 liters of water is used; and that this application, while preventing anthracnose and other diseases, works better without putting the plant under stress, since there is no high copper.
Featured AgroTroia products in this episode
- Copperas — a copper-based application that encourages shoots and supports against anthracnose with its organic acid and amino acid content.
This visit to Manisa Kırkağaç İlyaslar reveals how regular and timely nutrition makes a difference in olives even under open-field conditions. The experience of Adnan Bey and Belkıs Hanım and the team's field observations show that every step — from the switch from Bordeaux mixture to Copperas, to the fight against peacock spot and cotton aphid, to calcium and seaweed applications against climate-driven stress — reflects on the harvest with the right timing.
Source: AgroTroia – "Success in Agriculture" program, sponsored by AgroTroia.