Diversity of citrus germplasm in the Black Sea Region in Turkey

The Black Sea Agricultural region represents 12.59% of Turkey's fruit production and particularly the East Black Sea region ranks as 3rd in citrus fruit production after the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. Due to climate, soil and geographical features, production is mainly focused on hazelnut and tea. In Turkey, the citrus fruit production in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions is economical because of the ecological conditions of these regions. However, Satsuma mandarin which has the highest export finds its best ecology in the East Black Sea Region. In addition to mandarin, local citrus fruit species produced also include orange, lemon, citron and grapefruit. Nevertheless, due to increasing rate of tea production in this region, citrus fruit orchards have been destroyed and biodiversity has been threatened. In this paper, citrus germplasm in the East Black Sea region is evaluated and protection approaches are discussed.