The strawberries known as "red diamonds" of the rural neighborhood of Bursa's İnegöl district, are now not only being exported to Georgia and Ukraine, but to Russia as well. The first exports to Moscow recently followed exports to Georgia and Ukraine.
İnegöl Chamber of Agriculture Sezai Çelik said that Kurşunlu is one of Turkey's favorite areas for strawberry production. Since previously they only sold strawberries to the domestic market, Çelik said that they exported six trucks of strawberries to Moscow. Noting that strawberries grown in Kurşunlu have a better aroma and longer shelf life, he added: "Since it has proven itself with its flavor, it has become very popular. We are very happy."
Ali Satılmış, a strawberry exporter: "We have made strawberry production, which we started as amateurs in the early 2000s, more professional and turned into a good means of living for villagers."
According to Satılmış, villagers used to work outside of the village for daily wages before strawberry production. Now, 400-500 agricultural workers come to the village to harvest strawberries. "While people in villages migrate to cities, Kurşunlu's people are returning to their own village," he told dailysabah.com.