Sugar beet harvest has begun in Akyaka.

Sugar beet harvesting has begun in Akyaka. This year, approximately 100,000 tons of sugar beets have been planted in Akyaka.

In Akyaka, one of the hottest districts of Kars, the sugar beet harvest has started. The harvested beets are being delivered to the Sugar Factory by tractors and trucks.

In the village of Karahan, which is connected to Akyaka, sugar beets planted in the spring and summer months are being harvested using a six-row hoeing machine brought from Konya. The work, which starts early in the morning, continues until the evening.

Farmer Serkan Konca expressed that beet production is very good in 2024, stating, “We have started harvesting beets, may God bless everyone, the six-row hoeing machine from Konya has started harvesting beets. They are being loaded onto trucks and sent to the factory. The harvesting process starts at 8:00 AM. If the weather allows, we continue until the next day. Compared to previous years, this year’s yield is very good.”

Engin Yıldırım, the President of the Akyaka Agricultural Chamber, stated that they have been harvesting beets for about a week, saying, “The harvesting has started for a week, and we aim to send around 100,000 tons of beets to our sugar factory. We have delivered approximately 23,000 tons of this, 5-6 thousand tons are waiting to be transported from the field, and we continue to harvest 70,000 tons. This year’s yield is about 7-8 tons, whereas last year’s average yield was around 5.5-6 tons. We worked hard for this, brought agricultural engineers to the field, checked, and our farmers worked well. We expect an average yield of about 8 tons. Previously, single-row harvesting machines were available in our district; we brought our six-row polmer machine from Konya, and we continue to harvest an average of 150-200 decares of land daily without any problems. Thus, we reduced the workload of our farmers, preventing potential polar loss, weight loss, and quality loss while going to our factory. This also contributes to our national economy and the economy of our province.”

On the other hand, approximately 100,000 tons of beets planted in Akyaka are being delivered to the Kars Sugar Factory for processing. The goal is to complete the beet harvesting by the weekend.