Hi, I’m Taner Bugay and I grow organic Meyer lemons and mandarins in Turkey for Nature & More. Our company is called Tareks LTD, and our orchards are located in the south of Turkey, near the city of Adana. I work together with a group of growers to produce high-quality organic citrus for consumers across Europe.

A personal reason to go organic

My motivation to convert to organic farming was primarily personal. After illness in my family, I became convinced that pesticides can contribute to serious health problems—especially for growers who work with these products week after week. Beyond human health, pesticides also harm nature: they kill beneficial insects and negatively affect life in the soil. Two years after starting our company, I converted to organic farming in 2004.

Working with nature, not against it

What I love most about my work is working with nature—you can feel that energy in the orchard. Since going organic, I’ve learned that the goal is not to “fight” pests and diseases, but to prevent them. That means understanding insect life cycles, intervening only when needed, and maintaining balance rather than trying to eliminate everything. If some fruit is affected, it can still be used—such as for compost—so nutrients return to the orchard system.

Healthy fruit for people across Europe

For me, it is a powerful idea that our work in the orchard can help provide many people across Europe with healthy fruit—and contribute, in a small but real way, to quality of life.