Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) Development Studies Application and Research Centre (KARMER) and the HKU Economy and Society Student Society organised the panel “The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture”, focusing on organic farming, agricultural development, the importance of cooperatives and the agricultural activities that need to be carried out in the future.
The panel was attended by KARMER Director Prof. Dr. Hanifi Aslan, KADMER Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Özgüner, faculty members, and invited panellists: İslahiye Mayor and Agricultural Engineer Kemal Vural, Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry Deputy Director Nihat Deme, Entrepreneur, Author and Founder of the Zeugma Women’s Cooperative Sabiha Doğan, Head of the Department of Economics at Gaziantep University Prof. Dr. İbrahim Aslan, Chair of the Board of the Ezogelin Women’s Cooperative Saadet Toğaç Çolak, and students.
‘WE WILL CARRY OUT RESEARCH THAT WILL BENEFIT AGRICULTURE’
In his speech addressing the participants at the opening of the workshop, KARMER Director Prof. Dr. Hanifi Aslan said: “The subject of agriculture and agricultural development is of vital importance in our country and our region, as it is all over the world. It is also among the most important of our research topics. We began our work with the problems of the agricultural sector and the activity of researching and solving them. From now on we will carry out more detailed studies. There are many agriculture-related subjects. To mention some of them, in agriculture it is necessary to work without disturbing the order of nature. Research that will be very beneficial has been planned regarding soil, land use, seeds, increasing production, training human resources, and technological, economic and marketing aspects of the product.”
İslahiye Mayor and Agricultural Engineer Kemal Vural stated that although the country is in quite a good position in agriculture, there are many innovations that need to be made, and said that, to remedy deficiencies in agricultural areas they take care to sow according to the structure of the soil.
Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry Deputy Director Nihat Deme stated that they are in one-to-one contact with producers in Gaziantep and its districts, and that they work village by village, guiding farmers towards planting certified saplings.
Zeugma Women’s Cooperative Founder Sabiha Doğan and Ezogelin Women’s Cooperative Chair of the Board Saadet Toğaç shared their success stories with the students, stating that they provide employment for women in their cooperatives and grow natural products.
