Chilling duration of Silifke-Mersin region and its affects on fruit growing

This experiment was carried out during 1975 to 2011 in Silifke-Mersin. In this study, chilling duration of the last 35 years in Silifke-Mersin area (total chilling time below +7.2°C was calculated as hour) was determined and the effects of chilling duration on cultivation of temparate zone fruits were investigated. It was found that the winter season between the years of 1991 to 1992 was the coldest period with 1006 h and the winter season between 1983 to 1984 was the mildest period with 13 h. At the end of the research, it was seen that economic efficiency could not be gotten after mild winters, in this region especially from apricot cultivars (such as ‘Precoce De Tyrinthe’, and ‘Bebeco’) which require moderate and high chillling duration. According to the results, dormancy breaking chemicals (such as Dormex and winter oils) should be treated to get economic efficiency from old orchards. High chill fruit cultivars should not be grown since they can not produce economical yield. In terms of chilling requirement, fruit cultivars which will be grown should be suitable for the Silifke region.   Key words: Fruit, chilling requirement, dormancy breaking agent, cultivar.