Tekfen Agri-Industry Group has established Turkey’s first plant nutrition R&D center. At the center, which will increase digitalisation in agriculture, priority will be given to the development of new products that will contribute to the efficiency of plant nutrition by utilising new technologies. Thus, productivity in agriculture will be increased via technology.
Tekfen Agri-Industry Group, which continues its activities under the Toros Agri brand, established Turkey’s first R&D center in the field of plant nutrition. Hakan Göral, General Manager/managing Director of Toros Agri, said, “We will conduct scientific studies to meet the demands and requirements of the industry in this R&D center, which is a first in its field in Turkey.”
Stating that they are the largest organisation in the agricultural industry sector in Turkey, Göral added that this situation imposes a different responsibility on them and said, “Our application to the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology to establish an R&D center in the field of plant nutrition has been accepted. In this R&D center, which is a first in its field in Turkey, we will carry out scientific studies to meet the demands and requirements of the industry. The center will prioritise the development of new products that will contribute to the efficiency of plant nutrition using new technologies.”
MERSIN—OUR TEAM OF THIRTY PEOPLE
When Göral pointed out that we started with a core team of thirty people at the R&D center in Mersin, he also stated, “This center aims to serve the field of agricultural input. In 2018, we will position a new R&D center devoted to the field of agricultural output. It will exist as a separate building within the factory premises. We have a deep sense of passion and dedication for the work we will be doing here. In a company such as ours, certain R&D studies are already being conducted. But a dedicated, well-equipped R&D center will give you the opportunity to do research in specialized disciplines. This center is a first in Turkey.”
“EDUCATION IS OUR PRIORITY TOPIC”
Emphasizing that education is at the forefront of the issues that need to be resolved in the agricultural sector in Turkey, Göral stated that Turkey’s greenhouse yield is at world standards, whereas the yield in wheat, barley, and cereals is below the world average. Göral underlined that, in this context, the government should assume a guiding role regarding incentives.
Pointing to the importance of agricultural exchanges, Göral said that, when a produce makes good money, the farmer’s orientation to produce that the following year causes a decrease in the price of that produce. In this context, Göral said that the state should guide through agricultural exchanges on how and which produces will be produced in the basins, and added, “Our Ministry has taken important steps in this regard. This is especially important in terms of price stability”.
“DIGITAL AGRICULTURE WILL GROW VERY FAST”
Göral said that Turkey’s digitalisation in agriculture is at a very minimal level, but they predict that digital agriculture will grow very quickly. Emphasizing that Turkey has a long way to go in terms of good agriculture, Göral said that the farmers should first conduct a soil analysis.
Explaining that they predict that digital agriculture will grow very quickly in a country that uses mobile phones so well, Göral talked about the ‘Toros Farmer’ application developed by Toros Agri for farmers. Noting that the application is spreading rapidly, he said, “Thanks to this application, today our farmers can monitor when and how much of which fertiliser they can use in their fields using scientific methods”.
Following the ban on fertilisers in the domestic market last year, Toros Agri exported approximately 130 thousand tonnes of fertiliser to 15 countries in the first half of 2017. In his statement to the Anadolu Agency correspondent, Göral stated that 85 percent of their turnover comes from fertilisers and the rest from non-fertiliser activities, adding that the area they wanted to grow was non-fertiliser activities. Göral stated that approximately 6 million tonnes of fertilisers worth 1.8 billion dollars are consumed in Turkey every year, and that as Toros Agri, they sell 1.5 million tonnes of their 2-million-ton capacity to the domestic market.