Local producers promote mastic gum cultivation in Çeşme

İZMİR

Two mastic manufacturers in the western province of İzmir's Çeşme district are actively promoting the cultivation of the rare mastic tree, which grows exclusively in this touristic area and on the Greek island of Chios.

Employing the air layering method, the local manufacturers, Hasan Ege Tütüncüoğlu and İbrahim Topal, have successfully produced 30,000 mastic tree saplings in just three years.

Reflecting on the very beginning of the process, Tütüncüoğlu noted that they initially had about 1,000 mother mastic trees.

“These 1,000 mature trees yield both mastic gum and saplings. With our parent trees, we can yield about 100 kilograms of the geographically recognized ‘Çeşme mastic gum,’” he said.

Currently, they can manufacture with a loss of only 1 percent, he said, prompting them to boost their output even more.

“However, we need appropriate areas in order to increase our production,” he said, noting that these 30,000 saplings are waiting to be planted.

The lack of allocated spaces stems from the land prices being extremely high due to the district being a tourism hotspot, according to Tütüncüoğlu.

Pointing out that Greece produces about 250 tons of gums, Tütüncüoğlu emphasized that this development would allow the country to have a voice in the global market.

They have planted approximately 10,000 mastic trees on the 120 acres of land allocated so far. As the mastic trees there mature and expand in one to two years, the area will transform into a "gum forest," Tütüncüoğlu said.

He further noted that, after five years, they will be able to harvest these mastic trees.

Labeling the mastic trees “strategic products,” Topal, as a veteran gum producer, noted that these trees hold great potential economically.

“Every year, we spend between 250 billion to 300 billion Turkish Liras on imported gum. We are able to cultivate it in our nation. In seven to eight years, we might obtain the ability to fulfill our own demands,” he pointed out.