Hazelnut harvest costs are being reduced with the use of nets.

Duzce Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Esra Uzun visited the garden of producer Ercan Ilhan, who harvests using a net system in a 12.5-decare area in Aydınpınar village.

In Duzce, approximately 632 thousand decares of the 750 thousand decares of land is used for hazelnut production; among the highest input costs in hazelnut cultivation is the harvesting process. In the region, producers generally carry out the harvesting process by hand from the branches in areas with altitudes of 0-250 and 250-500 meters where hazelnuts are cultivated. In mixed orchards, hazelnuts that reach harvest maturity at different times are harvested simultaneously, leading to significant yield and quality losses.

To reduce the increasing labor costs of producers in Duzce, preferring net harvesting will help prevent yield losses occurring in hazelnuts collected from the branches, thus lowering input costs per unit area. The costs of cleaning foreign weeds under the hazelnuts for producers will also be significantly reduced with the net system. If the transition to the net system occurs, collecting the ripe hazelnuts by shaking the branches will prevent damage to the future year’s shoots and buds that could occur during hand harvesting from the branches. The ripe hazelnuts can be harvested either by falling naturally or by shaking the branches, and since they are fully filled, the yield of the hazelnuts is quite high. Collecting hazelnuts from the ground provides at least a 2-3 yield advantage over collecting from the branches, especially preserving the market quality of the products heading for export.

Stating that harvesting hazelnuts with a net provides advantages in labor costs during harvesting, Provincial Director Esra Uzun said, “While 8-10 labor costs occur per decare in orchards harvested by hand from the branches, producers can collect the hazelnuts from 1 decare of land in one day with just 2 or 3 workers using the net system.”

After touring Ercan Ilhan’s garden, Director Uzun congratulated him for his exemplary production in the region and expressed hope that this system would serve as an example to other producers, wishing all producers a plentiful and fruitful 2024 production season.