Hazelnut Harvest Begins in the Black Sea Region
One of the most important sources of income in the Black Sea Region, hazelnut harvest, officially started in coastal areas as of August 5. While harvest continues in the regions where the most hazelnut production is made in Turkey, in the middle and high altitudes, Producers continue to thresh and dry the hazelnuts they collect. During this process, the threshing machines used to separate the hazelnuts from the shells are also working overtime.
The Difficult Working Conditions of Threshers
Threshers work in difficult working conditions for an average of one and a half months every year, for approximately 20 hours a day, depending on the workload. On other days, they are busy with different tasks. Threshers, who work in sunny weather and dust due to the nature of their job, state that they have increased their hourly wages from 2,000 TL to 3,500 TL this year.
“Sometimes we work until the morning”
From the partners of the thresher Yigit Cagan, stated that they have entered an intensive work tempo with the start of the new season. Çağan, who stated that their work in the coastal area will be completed in approximately 10 days, said, “Hazelnut harvest in the coastal area takes approximately 20 days. Then we move on to the middle and high altitudes, which takes at least 20 days. In other words, we work for a total of 1.5 months. Sometimes we have to work sleeplessly and in the dust until the morning. This year, our hourly wage is 3,500 TL.”
Challenges for Hazelnut Producers
Hazelnut producer Mustafa Yildirim, stated that they continue to harvest hazelnuts and put the hazelnuts they collect through the thresher. Stating that the brown skunk pest affecting their hazelnuts causes serious problems, Yıldırım said, “The skunk has damaged the hazelnuts in Ordu by approximately 20 percent. Let’s see what condition our hazelnuts will be in. Hazelnut harvest and thresher work is really difficult. Workers’ wages are also quite high. I can say that 80 percent of the total cost of hazelnuts goes to labor costs. “I usually have around 20-30 tons of hazelnuts.”
The Challenge of Sun and Dust
Mustafa Yıldırım, who gave the hazelnuts they harvested to the thresher, stated that they worked for hours under the sun. Yıldırım, who stated that the hazelnut harvesting process was tiring, said, “This process takes 2-3 weeks in total. First, we dry the hazelnuts, then the thresher process is carried out and in the last stage, the hazelnuts are dried again as grains. Then, we hope to sell our hazelnuts.”
