Taner Bugay

Agro Tareks

Hi, I’m Taner Bugay and I grow organic Meyer lemons and mandarins in Turkey for Nature & More. Our company is called Tareks LTD and our orchards are located in the south of Turkey, near the city of Adana.

My motivation to go organic was mostly personal. We had some cases of illness in our family and I became convinced that pesticides were the cause of the health problems particularly for growers that work with such products on a week to week basis. On top of that they are harmful to nature: they kill beneficial insects and have a negative impact on soil life. So two years after starting our company I turned organic in 2004. It’s a wonderful idea to provide so many people all over Europe with healthy fruit, and being able to contribute to their quality of life.

Interview wit Taner:

N&M: What do you like most about your work?
Taner: “I love to work with nature. You can feel that energy around you in our orchard. I have learned a lot since I went organic. In the organic approach you don’t fight plagues and diseases, you try to prevent them. You have to learn about the life cycles of insects, so you know when to take action, but no more than that. We don’t exterminate them, we always leave some of them alive. That may cause a small amount of affected fruit, but we can use that for our compost. You learn lots of tricks to work with nature’s balance. It’s a bit scary at first, because you have no guaranties, but when you see it really works, that’s a great reward.”

What plans do you have regarding further sustainability?
A dream we've had for a long time has recently been realized. For the warehouse and drip irrigation, we now use 100% solar energy! A project we are currently working on is to use and reuse rainwater for washing our fruit.

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soil

The soil near Adana is very suitable for growing citrus fruit. In the beginning Taner had to import feather meal from Germany for the soil, but in 2004 he started making his own quality compost. Since he has been applying compost in his orchards, he doesn’t need anything else. He makes his own compost of pruning material, cow and sheep manure and leftover fruit. As a result his orchards have abundant soil biodiversity and a soil quality that only gets better with the years. Taner can get really enthusiastic about it: “It’s great to see how a stinky mass gradually changes into compost with a perfect forest floor smell.”

biodiversity

In spite of limited plant diversity, these organic orchards are still a very attractive habitat for many animals. There are many snakes, birds and especially lots of bees. Harmful rodents are kept under control by snakes and birds of prey. The trees are pruned in such a way that birds of prey can dive in between to hunt the small animals on the orchard floor. Taner keeps harmful insects under control with their natural enemies, which he also buys and spreads out in the orchard.

Taner’s orchards offer relatively little room for vegetable biodiversity. There are many snakes in this area, so the orchard floor is kept bare to prevent workers from getting bitten. Taner prefers not to have too many wild plants and trees in and around his orchard, because, according to Taner, these often attract harmful insects.

society

Personal development and education are crucial for freedom of mind. Taner is convinced of the importance of education and ensures that his employees do not take their children along to the orchard when they should be in school (something that his employees sometimes try). One of the other growers in his group has financed a local school. As an organic farmer, Taner is an example for other farmers in this region; ten growers have already switched to organic.

Human rights and equality are important principles to Taner. Among his employees, several ethnic groups are represented. These employees have their own front man and driver who live on the farm and frequently take the initiative to improve working conditions for their people. There are regular work meetings. The same group of people has been working with Taner for four years now.

Solidarity is about respect for others peoples basic needs, such as safety, a reasonable income and good housing. In Turkey, the workers reward is set in negotiation with the unions at the beginning of the season. It proclaimed all over the area, so everybody knows what their rights are. In this region, it used to be normal to take employees to the orchard by truck, but nowadays this is done with a shuttle bus, which is more comfortable and makes it possible to insure them. Because no chemicals are used, working conditions for Taner’s employees are much healthier than elsewhere.

climate

During spring, Taner sometimes needs to fight frostbite. He uses a large propeller for this, which raises the air temperature just above the freezing point. Taner bought a propeller driven by LPG instead of diesel because it burns cleaner and is less damaging for the climate. His pack house uses electricity of the national grid, a large part of which is supplied by water power in Turkey. Taner estimates he uses approximately the same amount of energy as a conventional grower. In the future he is going to move his pack house and he intends to implement solar panels and wind power at the new location for a part of his electricity needs.

As an organic farmer, Taner applies several techniques that are beneficial for the climate. He is composting green waste, which reduces methane emission. By applying compost, more carbon is sequestrated in the soil. He does not use fertilizer, which strongly reduces his direct and indirect emissions of nitrogen oxide (a very harmful greenhouse gas). Another important improvement is that Taner is planning to move his packing station to the orchard: this will save him 60% on fuel for transport. For fossil energy use – see also the “energy” section.

water

Taner has a water pit which is 60 meters deep and provides water to irrigate the orchard. In the past he used flood irrigation, but that uses an unnecessary amount of water, and it causes erosion and nutrients wash-out. Now he uses drip irrigation, which saves a lot of water and saves the soil too. This approach does not compete with the drinking water supply and the irrigation water goes back into the ground clean and unaffected.

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