| Plums
Uni Tarim
has a total of 33
Hectares of plum orchards in the Altunhisar and Yenice
plantations. We have planted these trees in parallel rows of 4.5 x 2.5 mts.
Our
plum varieties are Angelano, October Sun, T.C. Sun, Letizia, Fortune and Autumn Giant.
These orchards are also fed with the latest irrigation system, called ‘drop
irrigation’. The drop irrigation system works automatically and is fully
computerized.
The plum
drop pipes are hung horizontally at 80 cm. above the ground level and have holes
every 33 cm.
apart with each hole being almost directly above the stem of a tree. From each
hole an amount of 1.7 lts. of water will drop every hour. The orchards are
covered with the same ‘net system’ as the apple and nectarine orchards to
prevent weather problems such as hail.
With
highly trained experts flown in from abroad we are able to train our personnel
the different important ways of pruning. Ways which it possible for us to form
the shape of the tree as it grows, allowing us to gain more production from
each tree. There are 2 types of pruning for the plum trees, winter pruning and
summer pruning. Winter pruning is done towards the end of March, just before
the trees come out of their hibernation. Summer pruning is made in the months
July-August. With the spraying of the anti-insecticide spray just like the
other orchards we prevent illnesses to our fruits.
Harvesting starts around mid-July
until october. The harvesting
of plums just like the nectarine is very delicate as we try not to damage any
fruits during this process. Just like with the nectarine the plums are placed
in plastic cases, tractors collect these cases from the fields and take them to
the warehouse where they are loaded onto trucks, which are then sent directly
to the packing house in order to be processed. |
