Kastamonu University Vice Rector and Forestry and Nature Tourism Specialization Coordinator Prof. Dr. Ömer Küçük made statements to TRT Haber about the laurel, which has significant economic importance in Turkey.
Prof. Dr Küçük stated that Turkey meets 90 per cent of the world's laurel needs and that this plant has great historical and cultural value. He said that laurel, known as a Mediterranean plant, also grows in a wide area such as İzmir, Balıkesir, Bursa, Zonguldak, Bartın, Kastamonu, Sinop and is defined as “treasure” in the Black Sea Region.
Emphasizing that laurel leaves are widely used as an essential oil in sectors such as cosmetics, medical fields, and pharmacology and are being used as a spice in food, Prof.Dr. Küçük said that Turkish laurel is exported to countries such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, the USA, Brazil, Myanmar and Germany.
Prof. Dr. Küçük stated that with the widespread use of laurel, which has a history of thousands of years, in different sectors, its production has significantly increased since 2006. He stated that the output of laurel leaf was 6 thousand 500 tons in 2000, reaching 44 thousand tons in 2020.
Laurel Production Increases in Kastamonu
Stating that within the framework of the cooperation protocol signed between Kastamonu University and the General Directorate of Forestry, studies are carried out to increase laurel production, Prof. Dr Küçük stated that they chose Cide district as the starting point of these studies.
Stating that they had designated an area of 800 hectares in Cide as a laurel production area, Küçük said that they had increased this area to 2,700 hectares after the successful results obtained and planned to expand it to 5,000 hectares. He also stated that they aim to expand laurel production on the coastline up to the coasts of Çatalzeytin, İnebolu and Abana. Prof. Dr. Küçük noted that they plan to increase the bay production from 3 thousand tons to 10 thousand tons in the coming years.
Emphasizing that laurel production is a labour-intensive process, Prof. Dr Küçük said that laurel could be produced by seed and steel and that time and effort must be spent on both methods, but the results are satisfactory.
Küçük said, “The production of laurel from seeds is laborious. We can grow the laurel plant by producing cuttings from the tip shoots. After rooting the cuttings, we plant them in tubes in the fall or spring to create new laurel areas.”
