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August 14, 2001
Turkey’s corn production for 2001/02 is estimated at 2.1 million tons, equaling last year’s crop and the 5-year average. For the current growing season, crop prospects are generally favorable for most corn regions. Rainfall for first crop plantings was adequate in April, with excess rainfall during germination in most regions. Evenly distributed rainfall and near-normal temperatures aided establishment from May to June. Rains continued to be favorable throughout most of the country for the entire season, and crop scouting reports during the end of June indicated the Marmara and Aegean regions received adequate rainfall to support a good crop. However, rainfall data indicates the Samsun area located near the Black Sea may have experienced moisture stress during the flowering stage in July (Figure 1), and yields from the second-crop in the Cukurova region may be low due to warm temperatures in late July and early August.
Figure 1. Summer precipitation anomalies in Turkey (from satellite imagery)
The second-crop plantings in the Cukurova region also will affect final production estimates (Figure 2). The potential area available for second-crop plantings was not reached due to low water levels in the reservoirs near Adana and water delivery problems within the irrigation schemes. The Cukurova region produces nearly 40 percent of the nation's corn production, with approximately the same amount of area planted towards the first and second crops. This makes final corn production for Turkey highly dependent upon the second crop's harvest area in the Cukurova region. Most of the second-crop plantings in the Cukurova region was started in mid-June and completed by the end of July.
Figure 2. Major corn regions in
Turkey based on 1997 provincial statistics.
Corn in Turkey is grown mainly in the Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean, and Cukurova/Mediterranean regions (Figure 2). All regions plant corn as a first crop in the early spring, and corn is grown as both first and second crops mainly in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions. The second crop in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions is typically planted immediately after the winter wheat harvest in June or July, and irrigated until maturity. Eastern Marmara and the Black Sea regions are also significant first crop corn producing areas, with each region producing approximately 30 percent of Turkey’s corn production. Corn sowing area is highest in the Black Sea region, but yields are low because the crop is not irrigated.
Corn as a second crop became popular in Turkey after 1982 when
the "The Second Crop Agricultural Research and Dissemination Project"
administered by the Ministry of Agriculture aimed to increase corn planting area
to reach 700,000 hectares (ha.) by putting uncultivated irrigated land into use and start
corn production in the Southeast Anatolia. By 1990, corn planted area reached 600,000
ha. and it has remained between 500,000-600,000 ha. during the 1990s (Figure
3). Corn currently is the third
most important grain crop in Turkey, following wheat and barley.
Figure 3. Historical
corn production (USDA official estimates)
For more information, contact Curt Reynolds with the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division at (202) 690-0134 or e-mail ReynoldsC@fas.usda.gov.
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