THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Geothermal Power Plants Investors’ Association (JESDER) Chairman Ufuk Şentürk said that they aimed to increase the geothermal based agricultural production five-fold over the next 5 years in Turkey.
Stating that geothermal agriculture is the subject of secondary investment after electricity generation, JESDER Chairman Ufuk Şentürk said, “Site allocation studies have been initiated within the scope of ‘Agriculture Based Specialized Greenhouse Zones’ (TDİOSB) conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.”
“What we aim is to reduce production costs of our farmers”
Pointing out that total of 13 thousand decares of greenhouse area heating is being done in Turkey and 30 percent of the total area that is about 4 thousand decares belongs to geothermal heating, Şentürk noted, “As JESDER, our goal is to increase this area 4-5 times in the next 5 years and to benefit from our resources at optimum level. Currently, in these greenhouses tomatoes, ornamental plants, cucumbers, strawberries and fruits are grown intensely. To minimize our farmers’ costs with geothermal greenhouses is our main target.”
Indicating that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and many municipalities support geothermal based greenhouses and carry out studies, Şentürk explained that the most suitable regions for their secondary geothermal investments as Aegean and South Marmara. Şentürk also drew attention that Afyon, Gaziantep, Nevşehir, Kayseri, Manisa, Denizli and Antalya are the most advantegous provinces for geothermal based greenhousing, especially Aydın province stands out for geothermal based greenhousing.
“New employment opportunities will come out”
Emphasing that geothermal based greenhousing will pave way for thousands of people to be employed, Ufuk Şentürk added, “Turkey is rich with geothermal resources from east to the west and in particular it can be written a new success story in drying.”
“In heating by using geothermal sources, you can dry 7/24 regardless of the season and you will shorten the drying time and reduce the cost. You will have a cleaner operation. This process is applied in many cities such as İzmir, Kırşehir, Manisa and Ankara. Now our drying potential is 5 thousand tons per year,” Şentürk concluded…
