Research Article
Walnut sunscald and sunburn injuries on walnut fruits harvested from the Trakya region of Turkey
2022
1
1
62-65
31.05.2022
2822-4566
Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is one of the most important fruit species grown in the world. Turkey has positioned the fourth producer country in the world through its 120 000 tones yield harvested from 10 million trees. The production amount of 2118 Kg /ha does not represent the potential of Turkey's high walnut tree numbers attained in recent years. The causes of this outcome could be explained as the lack of cultivar purity of walnut trees and low yield production. In addition to imported walnut fruit in the markets, most of the walnut yields are a mixture of local and breed varieties in the region's Edirne, Kırklareli, and Tekirdağ provinces. Alongside mixtures of local uncertified walnut fruit trees, the certified Turkish cultivars of Bilecik, Şebin, Kaman, Yalova, and the American Chandler nurses are being planted as individual trees and establishment of small walnut orchards and groves in the Trakya region. Obtaining 2448 walnuts harvested in the season of the 2021 year from their shelled fruits were examined for sunscald and sunburn typically symptoms. As a result of this study, a total of 118 out of 2448 walnuts at the rate of 4.82 % of walnut samples exhibited sunscald and sunburn injuries. The least rate of sunscald injuries was found at 3.44 % among the mixture of Tekirdağ local cultivars. However, Edirne local cultivars were found to be the most susceptible at the rate of 11.43 %. Results of this study point out that besides selecting the best accurate walnut cultivars, ecological factors to allocate locations for establishing walnut orchards and groves are important environmental and horticultural practices that should be more or less in valleys shaded by hills and mountains as in Anatolia. To provide certified walnut nurses for growers, public and private nurseries have recently been active in nine provinces.
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