Olive growing in Mardin
Güneydoğu Anadolu region · 4.076 t of olives and 59 t of olive oil in 2024-25.
In the 2024-25 season Mardin harvested 4.076 tonnes of olives from 423.000 bearing trees — an average of 9.6 kg per tree. Of that crop 3.742 t went to the table and 334 t to pressing, yielding 59 tonnes of olive oil.
Where it stands
- 5 of 9 in the Güneydoğu Anadolu region — 2.0% of the region's crop, 0.1% of Turkey's
- 9.6 kg per tree — 1.4 kg below the regional average of 11.0 kg
- 92% of the crop goes to the table (regional average 5%) — table-oriented
Derik: homeland of Halhalı
Mardin's olive growing is known by the name of a single district: Derik. It is the homeland of the Halhalı variety, known locally and directly as Derik olive.
Derik Halhalı olive oil has won awards in international competitions in England and Japan, and is recognised for its distinctive aroma, low acidity and nutritional value. Across Halhalı's range (Mardin, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş) there are roughly 2 million trees.
The province's real wealth, however, is varietal diversity. Alongside Halhalı, the varieties grown traditionally in Derik include Zonciki, Güleki, Mavi, Kejik, Belluti, Mazı, Gürseki and Melkabazi. Most of these names appear in no national variety catalogue — this is precisely the Southeast's wealth of unrecorded genotypes.
2024-25 season
| Bearing trees | 423.000 |
| Olives | 4.076 t |
| To the table | 3.742 t (%92) |
| For oil | 334 t |
| Olive oil | 59 t |
| Per tree | 9.6 kg |
Only the current season is published for this province; the eleven-year series exists for İzmir, Aydın, Manisa, Muğla, Bursa and Çanakkale.
Varieties of the Güneydoğu Anadolu region
Varieties are recorded by region in the source, not by province.
- Belluti
- Eğriburun
- Hursuki
- Kalem Bezi
- Kan Çelebi
- Kilis Yağlık
- Mavi
- Melkebazi
- Nizip Yağlık
- Yağ Çelebi
- Zoncuk
Mardin in our articles
- Olive varieties: seventeen Turkish varieties in numbers
- The nameless olives of southeast Anatolia: Mardin, Şırnak and the pollinator problem
- Kilis: the structure is solved, the soil is not
- Where do olives grow in Türkiye, and where don't they?
- Yağ Çelebi olive: characteristics, oil content and growing areas
- Sarı Haşebi olive: characteristics, oil content and growing areas
- The Halhalı olive: Hatay's oil cultivar
- Eğriburun olive: characteristics, oil content and growing areas