Microelement Status and Soil and Plant Relationships of Olive Groves in West Anatolia Region of Turkey

Abstract

The importance of olives to human health and nutrition is gradually increasing every passing year. Olive is a cultivated perennial plant, produced as table olives and olive oil, which are of economic importance in the Mediterranean countries—the most widespread olive-growing area—and Asian, American, and North African countries. In Turkey, olive growing is mostly carried out in the Aegean region followed by the Marmara and the Mediterranean regions. Thanks to the recently established olive groves, the importance of olive growing has increased. Although olive trees are more resistant to unfavorable conditions than other fruits, some problems such as a decrease in the yield and quality of the product may appear if there is a nutrition deficiency. Conditions for olive growing should be improved to provide the olive trees with better nutrition. To realize this aim, by determining nutritional status of sampling provinces with soil and leaf analysis recommendations about more accurate fertilization techniques will be provided. In this study, the amounts of microelements in the soil of olive groves and the nutritional status of microelements of olive trees in the provinces of Izmir, Manisa, Aydin, Mugla, Balikesir, Canakkale, and Bursa in the West Anatolia region were examined between the years of 1997 and 2009, and the relationships between the results of soil analysis and the results of leaf analysis were evaluated. Statistically significant correlations between the amounts of microelements in the soils and the amounts of microelements in the leaves were obtained. Although the soil and leaf samples were observed to have deficiencies in iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and boron (B), the deficiency in copper (Cu) was found in only leaf samples. According to the results of soil analysis, it was observed that 39% of the groves reveal deficiency in Zn, whereas the results of the leaf analysis revealed that 75% of them had deficiency in Mn. It is vital that these results be taken into consideration while preparing fertilization programs.