Manisa, a city located in western Turkey, came second in geothermal greenhouse production in Turkey with geothermal greenhouses in an area of 76 hectares. This figure represents nearly 18 % of Turkey’s geothermal greenhouse production areas and ranks second only to Izmir, another western Turkish city.
Geothermal greenhouse production areas in Izmir are about 82 hectares in size. Manisa is followed by Afyon with 72 hectares. All three cities are located in the Aegean region and blessed with abundant geothermal resources. Government officials underline the cost-saving benefits of the geothermal greenhouses
According to 2017 numbers, there are in total 225 geothermal greenhouses in the country spanning 428 hectares. Around 376 hectares of these geothermal greenhouses are plastic whereas 52 hectares are glass greenhouses. The average size of a greenhouse is around 2 hectares and 93 % of these greenhouses are using hydroponic methods for production. 96 % of all these greenhouses are used for tomato production.
Looking at the production figures just for the city of Manisa, there are 832 growers in the city and the main agricultural production items are tomato, cucumber, green pepper, lettuce and strawberry which are grown in a production area of 308 hectares across the city. A significant part of the production is exported to Russia and Ukraine. 2,092 tons of fresh produce is exported to Russia within the first 6 months of 2018, followed by 139 tons of fresh produce exports to Ukraine during the same period.
Source: Hurriyet