A resident of Kyzylorda in southern Kazakhstan has planted and grown more than 2 million trees; he has adapted to the harsh climatic conditions species that in theory had no right to take root here, Kazakh media reported.
Despite his advanced age, Bektay Suleymenov walks around his green farm with an inseparable hoe, planting and tending trees. He grows apples, pears, cherries, apricots, plums, grapes, junipers, thuyas, poplars, maples, ash trees, elm trees, willows, and pines on 35 hectares. He recalls that he planted his first tree – an apricot – with his father at the age of three:
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– My father was an avid gardener; he always took me to plant trees, and I loved doing it with him (…) In time, I started planting trees myself, and when I finished 10th grade, I decided to become a forester.
His love of nature led him to the Kazakh National Agrarian University, where he became a forestry specialist. He has been running his green nursery for 34 years. He started with a much more modest, with only 5 hectares of acreage.
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– I proved that even coniferous trees can be grown in Kyzylorda. I divided all the seedlings I grew into zones and acclimatized them. There are even firs and cedars.
The climate where the aqsaqal (the word means “white-bearded” in Turkic languages and is a commonly used polite phrase for older men – ed.) lives is demanding. There is heat in the summer and strong winds in the winter.
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– Some species, such as thuyas, spruces, and junipers, are exotic in this area. Some people plant them, and they die. They say it’s because of poor care. But plant trees from seeds you have grown yourself; even with lousy care, they will grow. I have a lot of experience in this because I sold up to 100,000 seedlings yearly to green Kyzylorda,” the man claims.
Seedlings bought from Suleymenov are being accepted in the even harsher climate of the cities of Aktau and Atyrau, located on the Caspian Sea. The older man boasts that no tree he sold has yet died.
md / belsat.eu / PAP
