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Press release…
İZMİR – A documentary has been produced to promote the “Black Orak (Sickle)” fig, a variety identified through R&D work aimed at driving growth in dried figs—a sector in which Türkiye is a world leader in both production and exports—and which is rapidly gaining ground in cultivation areas due to its superior characteristics.
Produced as part of the Black Orak (Sickle) Project led by K.F.C. Gıda (K.F.C. Food), one of the leading exporters in the dried fruit sector, the documentary has been shared with stakeholders in the agriculture and dried fruit sectors, as well as with producers, agricultural engineers and students.
Filming for the documentary took place at the Black Orak trial orchard in Bergama district of İzmir; K.F.C. Food’s production facilities; the Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM) Erbeyli Fig Research Institute in Aydın province and fig production areas, as well as at the laboratories of the Faculty of Agriculture at Ege University (EÜ) and the İzmir Institute of Technology.
Directed by Tolga Albay, the documentary recounts the story of the Black Orak fig’s rebirth, evaluating Türkiye’s historical strength and current position in dried fig production.
The documentary, which evaluates scientific data on the health benefits of the Black Orak variety, also details the new variety’s ecological and economic expansion across the Northern Aegean region and its growth targets in the global market.
The documentary features Birol Celep, Chairman of the Board of Directors at K.F.C. Food; Mehmet Özkul, Director of the TAGEM Erbeyli Fig Research Institute; Professor Dr. Ahmet Yemenicioğlu, Lecturer at the Department of Food Engineering at Izmir Institute of Technology (IYTE); Professor Dr. Fatih Şen, Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture at Ege University as well as engineers, field workers and producers involved in the project.
In his statement, Birol Celep, Chairman of the Board of Directors at K.F.C. Food, noted that they are a group that has provided employment in the Gediz and Bakırçay basins for approximately 100 years and that they are working with the aim of taking Turkish agriculture to new heights.
Celep emphasised that, within this framework, they attach great importance to R&D projects in agriculture and noted that they are enthusiastically continuing the Black Orak Project, which will make a significant contribution to Turkish agriculture and exports.
Highlighting that demand for dried fruit products is increasing globally due to growing awareness of healthy eating and that new varieties of dried figs must enter the market to meet this demand, Celep added, “Climate change has also made R&D work on new varieties a necessity.”
Celep also reported that the ‘Black Orak’ variety has attracted significant interest from growers, with nearly 40,000 saplings planted in orchards established across the region stretching from İzmir to Çanakkale province and underlined that the documentary serves as an informative resource for growers interested in this product.
The documentary’s director, Tolga Albay, explained that they had experienced the joy of bearing witness to a project rarely seen in agriculture and pointed out that through eight months of filming, they had sought to bring not only the story of the Black Orak but also the enthusiasm and ideals of the project’s leaders to the screen…
