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My Digital Farm (Tarlam); A Super Application Shaping the Future with Farmers
The idea of My Digital Farm (Tarlam) emerged in 2022 with the research of Kerem Öztürk, a 15-year-old entrepreneur who realised the deficiencies in the agricultural sector. Initially designed as a marketplace platform, the project started to be developed by a young and visionary team.
In December 2022, work began to realise the project. However, the process was much more challenging than expected. The team discovered the importance of understanding the real needs of farmers and took a radical decision: To mould the app in line with farmers’ feedback.
This decision completely changed the direction of My Digital Farm. With the direct contributions of farmers, the idea of a super app that goes beyond the marketplace model was born. In 2023, the foundations of artificial intelligence were laid and the system was developed with the contributions of expert agricultural engineers.
Today, My Digital Farm has turned into a powerful agricultural super application that is shaped according to the needs of farmers and grows with their experiences and demands. It has become not just an application, but an innovative ecosystem that builds the future of agriculture together with farmers…
Who is Zeynep Ceren Öztürk?
First of all could you tell us about yourself?
I am 25 years old and graduated from Istanbul Ticaret (Commerce) University, Department of Mechatronics Engineering. I am currently preparing for the IELTS exam in line with my master’s degree goal and aim to develop my career globally.
Art and sports have an important place in my life. My interest in art started thanks to my mother and deepened when I started to develop my interest in painting during my high school years.
I aim to build a strong career by combining technical knowledge with management skills. On the other hand, I receive mentorship from Ayşe Ayşin Işıkgece (Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture) and Ali Rıza Ersoy (Agripreneur), with whom our paths crossed thanks to the My Digital Farm project. I continue to improve myself with these valuable guidance, the books I read and the experiences I have gained.
What are the cycles in My Digital Farm? Could you elaborate on the formation?
For more than two years, my brother (Kerem Öztürk) and I have been working on an artificial intelligence-supported superapp project. We have developed a platform that meets the basic needs of farmers such as field management, access to finance and offers innovative solutions to the challenges in the agricultural sector with autonomous systems.
The guidance of my brother Kerem played a big role in our entry into this sector. In addition, the pandemic we experienced in 2020 was one of the important factors affecting this process. During the pandemic period, we had to close our homes and meeting our basic needs became a big problem. One of the issues we thought about the most in this process was food. Food transfers between countries came to a standstill and supply chains were seriously disrupted.
In addition, there is an incredible population growth across the world. To accommodate the growing population, urbanisation is accelerating, new roads are being built and highways are being expanded. However, all this is leading to a reduction in the area allocated for agriculture. This makes productivity per unit in agriculture more important than ever.
It has become a necessity to realise food production with efficient, healthy and environmentally friendly methods. This is precisely where the ‘My Digital Farm’ system we have developed comes into play. Thanks to this system, we can create a sustainable and healthy food supply process by increasing efficiency in agricultural production…
Source: www.gidaturk.com.tr,
Gıdatürk Magazine, March-April 2025 Edition
