Mulberry and blueberry cultivation in Turkey

Turkey is one of the most significant countries in the world from the point of view of both fruit genetic resources and amount of fruit production. Around 100 fruit species, including almost all the deciduous fruit species, most of the subtropical and some tropical fruit are grown in Turkey. Among fruits, berry fruits including grapes share 25% of total fruit production of the country. The most important berry fruits in terms of amount of production in Turkey after grape are strawberry (average 200.000 tons production annually) and followed by mulberry (70.000 tons), raspberry and blackberry (30.000 tons) and blueberry (5000 tons). Mulberries are cultivated throughout Turkey but they are more common in Northeast, Southeast and Central Anatolia between 0 to 1500 m above sea level. The S. Ercisli i H. Celik: Uzgoj duda i borovnice u Turskoj 282 country is represented by four mulberry species, namely Morus alba, Morus nigra, Morus rubra and Morus laevigata. Mulberry trees are grown only for fruit production in Turkey compared to the other main mulberry production countries such as India, China etc. which use mulberry trees for leaf yield in sericulture. The interest in growing mulberries is increasing year by year in Turkey. The Black Sea Region of Turkey, northeastern part of Anatolia, is one of the main germplasm centers of several Vacciniums and Ericaceous plant species. Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idea) have been naturally grown in the forests and plateaus over the centuries. However commercial blueberry production by using northern high bush blueberries started in the 2000s in the country.