Tekfen Tarım Adana-Agripark Facility Begins Operating as R&D Center

Tekfen Tarım Adana-Agripark Facilities, where agriculture meets technology and efforts continue to preserve many agricultural products at risk of extinction, has been designated as a Research and Development center by the Ministry of Industry and Technology. As population growth worldwide and in Turkey leads to nutrition becoming one of the most critical issues of the future, the preservation of existing varieties and the improvement of their productivity are of paramount importance. For this purpose, Tekfen Tarım Adana Agripark Facilities, one of Turkey's first and few technological agricultural centers operating in Adana, uses Anatolia's rich biodiversity as a resource to produce disease-free, quality seeds and seedlings for farmers. The center, where activities are conducted for the future of Turkish agriculture, has been authorized as a Research and Development center by the Ministry of Industry and Technology in recognition of its work using contemporary agricultural methods. Tekfen Tarım initially made an investment of TRY 15 million for projects targeting identified products, including equipment and technology investments. At Agripark, where seed and seedling production is carried out using tissue culture methods, in addition to studies on potato seeds that combat more than 25 diseases, plum, cherry and banana seedling improvement work, production and export are also conducted. The Research and Development center, where special studies are conducted particularly on endemic products, is also carrying out projects for the revival of Anamur banana, a flavor unique to Turkey, under healthy growing conditions. At the Research and Development center, Tekfen Tarım conducts special studies on wheat, a staple food for the Turkish people and a raw material for exported industrial products such as flour, pasta, biscuits, bulgur and semolina. Based on the fact that Anatolia is a significant gene source in terms of wheat, Tekfen Tarım has begun work on improving bread wheat, pasta wheat and biscuit wheat with high yield and quality values, using gene sources unique to Turkey.