Turkish Vine yards observation, April 2023
The Vineyards
The awakenings had started in March with the increase in air temperatures. As of April, the first leaves have emerged and the vines moved to the phase where the shoots become clearly visible at the end of bunches with 4 to 6 leaves emerging from each.
The most critical risk factor after the awakening of the vineyards is the risk of frost that may occur when temperatures drop below 0°C. With the air temperatures decreasing by 8 to 12 degrees towards the end of March, the agricultural frost occurred on the nights of Wednesday, March 29 and Thursday, March 30, and was effective until the morning hours of the following days that damaged the already awakened vines. Although the damage assessment studies carried out by the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture still continue, the possibility of frost adversely affecting the entire crop seems low as of today. According to our experience, when the conditions at hand are evaluated, it is thought that the vineyards and vines are likely to compensate for the losses.
The Pest Control
Tillage operations are carried out in the vineyards. In this period, vine leaf thrips (Anaphothrips vitis) and vine leaf scab (Eriophyes vitis) pests begin to appear in the vineyards. These two pests continue their effect until the harvest period after they are awakened in the vineyards, yet, they can be easily controlled by the correct applications preventing their negative effects on yield.