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Heavy rain in Bursa’s Gursu and Kestel districts has left hundreds of acres of peach, pear, and vegetable fields submerged, forcing farmers to battle mud, water, and disease during the critical flowering season.
Farmers wade through flooded orchards, spraying trees in hopes of saving this year’s harvest, while vegetable fields lie ruined under standing water. With forecasts predicting more rain in the coming days, local producers face an uncertain and costly season.
Farmer Zafer Altin wades through the thick mud to spray his fruit trees with protective chemicals.
“We are at the peak of flowering, which is when disease prevention is crucial. But we have to work in the mud,” he explains.
Farmers like Altin are racing against time, hoping the water doesn’t remain for more than a week or ten days, which could irreversibly damage the trees.
Before the rains, Altin had planted 10 acre of dill. But standing water and saturated soil ruined the crop completely. “Everything went under 'seeds, fertilizer, labor' it’s all gone. We had nearly 100,000 TL invested,” he explains.
Once the waters recede, Altin plans to replant with arugula, dill, or lettuce, hoping for a second chance at a productive season.
Neighboring pear farmer Turgay Koc watches helplessly as water engulfs most of his nine acre orchard.
“If the water doesn’t drain in a week or ten days, the trees could die,” he says, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
The devastation is compounded by last summer’s forest fires. Hillsides that once absorbed rainfall now lie bare, channeling water directly into valleys and orchards.
“Before, the shrubs held the water; now it comes straight down and floods everything below,” Koc explains.
The combination of fire damage and heavy rainfall has turned familiar landscapes into unpredictable threats, forcing farmers to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
Local irrigation cooperatives are working to pump water from fields into overflowing canals, but the volume of rain is overwhelming.
Even with these efforts, water remains in orchards and vegetable plots, threatening trees, soil, and future crops. Farmers face a race against time to save what they can before the next wave of rain arrives.
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