Turkey's agriculture ministry to support R&D projects

By Bahattin Gonultas and Mustafa Calkaya

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry's General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (Tagem) will support research and development (R&D) activities in the field of food with 40 million Turkish liras ($8.45 million).

Within the scope of support, 53 projects of different institutions -- such as fertilizer provider Gubretas -- will receive grants, Tagem's General Director Gazi Kaya said in a signing ceremony with project owners in the capital Ankara on Thursday.

Tagem evaluated 163 projects and chose 53 of them, he stated.

"Private sector's projects provide effective R&D activities. Their solutions are put into practice quickly," Kaya said.

R&D activities require many years and Turkey needs these activities to feed the increasing population with quality food, he added.

Kaya stressed the projects cover several areas such as food and animal feed, field crops, animal health, machinery, garden plants, manure, bovines, plant health, cattle, fisheries and bee culture.

Gubretas' manure R&D project is the most extensive and the highest-budgeted project among 53 projects, according to Kaya.

"The project will be financed both by Tagem and Gubretas," he said.

Ibrahim Yumakli, general manager of Gubretas, said: "We developed the project to reduce foreign dependency in fertilizer sector."

Tagem's support is important for the private sector and universities' R&D activities, he said, adding: "Thus, the private sector's R&D structure will gain strength and competitive capacity will rise."

Gubretas was founded in 1952 to provide 100 types of products to Turkish agricultural sector through 2,800 distribution points with its over 100 types of products in Turkey.