In Trakya and Southern Marmara region, meadow caterpillar has been a nightmare for sunflower producers this season.
Farmers were alarmed when the meadow caterpillar, which was first seen in Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, was also seen in Çanakkale, İstanbul, Balıkesir, Bursa, Bilecik and Eskişehir. The growing grasshopper population is seriously damaging growing plants. Industry stakeholders are of the opinion that grasshopper damage will have a limited negative impact of 3-5 percent on the yield after the measures taken.
