He turned fruit growing from a hobby into a business.

Mahmut Çoban, who started fruit growing as a hobby in Bitlis in the early days, began trading apples due to the increase in yield. In 2005, he planted 250 apple saplings on a 4-decare land in Ekinli village, connected to Bitlis center, and this year he obtained a yield of 7 tons from the trees he cared for annually. Mahmut Çoban (65), who planted apple saplings as a hobby on the land inherited from his father and took care of them during the summer months, later started to harvest. Initially stating that he distributed the apples to friends and relatives, Çoban began to sell them when he started to obtain excess produce. However, since there is no regular market, Çoban often sells to greengrocers and neighboring provinces at low prices, noting that if there were a good market, farmers could evaluate their products in Bitlis, which is the final harvest place.
Çoban stated that he had a good yield this year, saying, “I planted apple saplings on my inherited land in Ekinli village as a hobby. Thank God, this year’s yield is very good. Here, rather than distributing to friends, a marketing system is being established. Our biggest problem here is the lack of a market environment. We cannot evaluate it for this reason. I hope a healthy market environment is created. We do it for hobby purposes, but those who trade, engage in these works, and sustain their lives with this will obtain much more comfortable and healthier products. I mainly grow apple varieties on my 4-decare land. I cultivate Golden, Arab girl, Starking, and Argentine types. This year’s yield is high. We obtained about 7-8 tons of products. We are also offering these for sale in the domestic market.”