HISTORY OF YELLOW GOLD (BAFRA TOBACCO)

HISTORY OF YELLOW GOLD (BAFRA TOBACCO)

There is a popular motto that says: “No gain without pain”. This is completely true. In fact, the pain suffered by people who deal with tobacco cultivation is a little more. Not only do they suffer from the huge, tiring amount of work but also from not being able to eat hot food for days. However, they never complain. They always know that to gain, they need to work a lot. To sell the tobacco at a good price, they need to look it after, care and process.

Tobacco cultivators work day and night. Time passes and works against them. They contribute both to their family budget and also national economy as tobacco is one of the basic import products. They are the farmers of Bafra who are very well aware of their mission.

            Tobacco seeds are cultivated in March, on the fields (called as Seedbeds) whose soil is puffed up. For seeds cultivated on seedbeds come into leaves in a healthy way, conscientious care is given. Especially to prevent “Blue Mold Fungus” and “Mole Crickets”, fields are disinfected. As soon as the tobacco seeds come out of the soil, wild grass is picked and the soil is irrigated once in two days.

       The cultivation starts mostly in May. The weather in villages of Bafra becomes milder. People get faster and more active. They cannot stand spending even a minute without working. Elders & youngsters start working all together. This refers to a “Declaration of Mobilization for Tobacco”. Leisureliness does not exist in their dictionaries. All family members who are still in good health take responsibility in this mobilization.

       They wake up with the morning azan, choose the best seeds from the ones cultivated in the fields and remove them with their roots. Then they place them all neatly in boxes and set off. They do all these before the sun rises.

       Lines that are called “Karik” are drawn on the field. Women are lined up accordingly and start implanting the tobacco seeds with “Ibrik” and “Sirvic” (water-cans) in their hands. This is the most tiring and boring stage of tobacco process. The sun gets directly overhead and bent double bellies try to implant the seeds one by one…It’s the patience arising out the respect to one’s bread & butter. They never look at the end of “Karik” because if they do, they might lose heart.

       Now the sweats dropping out of their foreheads unite with soil. This continues days, even weeks. When the implanting process ends, the farmers celebrate that with “Kurtancalik” or as in its other name “Helva Toreni” (Halvah Ceremony). Farmers eat halvah all together and so complete the process in a sweet way. They pray and wish the same, sweet process for the next time.        

       Now it’s the time for farmers keep looking at the sky and search for some rain clouds because if it does not rain, then the seeds do not grow and stay chunky, even get dry. But each time, God helps them and it rains. Both the soil and their hearts get refreshed. After this, the “yellow gold” starts growing in the middle of the barrens. Hands up rise, prays in the mouths, hearts get together, faces smile…

       Few days further, “Anchor” stage starts. Picks are hold, folk songs are sung and the third stage is passed. As soon as the roots get some air, they get alive and seem like they want to reach the sky. They soon turn into tobacco leaves.

       It is now the time for harvesting the crop. Farmers go to the field everyday before morning azan. They harvest the tobaccos, leaf by leaf. They continue doing so for weeks with patience. They try to complete this process before the natural disaster, “Blue Mold Fungus”, hits the tobaccos; because if it hits, then first the leaves, then all seeds droop.

The harvested tobaccos are lined up on the ropes with needles…One by one, with utmost attention…tremendous efforts. Thousands…ten thousands…millions of leaves.

       Patience becomes their guide…patience all the time. Try telling this to one of these farmers: “Here you are, ten thousand liras. Take it and count the tobacco leaves in this basket.” You’ll see that she/he will be too lazy to count the leaves. But the same farmer, during the harvest stage, lines up the same number of or even more leaves with needle. This might be their patience contest in which our farmers always succeed.

       The lined tobaccos are hanged in the “Salacs” in 10-15 rows. The tobacco that gets some sun shine for the last time is now called as “yellow gold”.

       Three dried tobacco rows are gathered and “Hevenk” (a bunch) is prepared. Then it is placed in the “Magza” (shop).

       At the end of autumn, when tobacco sale starts, tobacco bunches are controlled once more. The controlled leaves are pressed in special boxes and turned into “Tonga”. The time when all these processes are completed coincides with the time when new tobacco season is about to start.

       Shortly, to procure the seasonal tobaccos, farmers show huge efforts whole year.

       After the final process is over, tobaccos are sold to Tekel or merchants.

       “Yellow Gold” undergoes maintenance in workshops in our skillful employers’ hands. It is classified in 5 groups “AG (A Grad), BG (B Grad), KP (Kapa), DKP (Duble Kapa - Double) and KR (Kırık- Cracked)” and is wrapped in standard 25 kg bales.

            These bales are next transported to cigarette factories located in several different cities of our country. Bafra tobacco has been the most qualified and wanted tobacco of the world. It has also been the milestone in Bafra economy for years. Unfortunately, the number of Bafra tobacco cultivated and also the tobacco farmers have decreased lately.

            It should be our duty to leave tobacco as a legacy to next generations and this is why a TOBACCO MUSEUM is needed to be established where one may witness the stages in tobacco production and find all equipments, machineries used in tobacco cultivation…