Regionalization

Based on seven geographical regions as defined by State Institute of Statistics (SIS) the nine different agricultural regions have been determined by considering the agricultural characteristics, climate, geography, and socio-economic factors. Those regions are:

1. Blacksea
2. Marmara
3. Aegean
4. Mediterranean
5. Mid-North
6. Mid-South
7. Mid-East
8. Northeast
9. Southeast
.

Because of divergence of geography and size of the regions, some differences can also be found within these regions. So regions are not always homegeneous in terms of agroclimatical conditions.

Phenological data

The following experts were involved in phenological data collection:

• Dr. Muzaffer Avcı -Central Research Institute for Field Crops, Agronomy department – Ankara
• Hakan Mete Dogan - Central Research Institute for Field Crops, GIS and Remote Sensing Department – Ankara
• Dr. Ali Mermer - Central Research Institute for Field Crops, GIS and Remote Sensing Department – Ankara
• Dr. Hasan Ozcan - Blacksea Agricultural Research Institute – Samsunv
• Dr.Murat Olgun - Eastern Anatolia Agricultural Research Institute - Erzurum
• Erkan Bayram - Sakarya Agricultural Research Institute - Sakarya
• Dr. Abdullah Inal - Aegean Agricultural Research Institute - Izmir
• Dr.Yalcin Kaya - Thrace Agricultural Research Institute-Edirnev
• Ismail Temiz - Provincial Directorate of Agriculture- Gaziantep

The following resources were used during phenological data collection:

• Main source
• Fenology atlas for Turkey.Turkish State Meteorological Service .(Turkiye Fenoloji Atlasi. Devlet Meteoroloji Isleri Genel Mudurlugu, Ankara).
• Secondary sources
• Kun, E. 1996. Cereals I (in Turkish;Tahıllar I, Serin İklim Tahillari) Ankara Univ. Ziraat Fak. Yayin no:1451).
• Kun, E. 1997. Cereals II (in Turkish;Tahıllar II, Sicak İklim Tahilları. Ankara Univ. Ziraat Fak. Yayin no:1452.)
• Oral, E. 1979. Nişasta ve Şeker Bitkilerinin Yetiştirme Tekniği. Ataturk Univ. Ziraat Fak. Erzurum.
• Sehirali, S. 1988. Yemeklik Dana Baklagiller. Ankara Univ. Ziraat Fak. Yayın no:1089. Ankara

Most of the data were gathered from reliable sources such as governmental institutions and universities. Since the climate is very diverse in Turkey it may cause problems in data consistency in some cases. Expert knowledge coming from particular regions was used where no phenological data were available.

As it is stated partly in wheat physiology, vegetation period is shorter in coastal areas (Mediterranean, Aegean, and Blacksea) comparing to the Central Anatolia (Mid-north, Mid-south, Mid-east) and Eastern Anatolia (North-east). Depending on the climatic conditions, especially rain and temperature, vegetation period of wheat increases in the North-east region which has mountainous and harsh climatic conditions especially in winters. For this reason, approximately 320 days are necessary to complete whole vegetation period in North-east. On the other hand, this period is the shortest (220 days) in Mediterranean region.