Scientific Support for Mediterranean Fig Producers

With the protocol signed between the Akdeniz Municipality, the central district of Mersin, and the Fig Research Institute Directorate, local fig producers engaged in fig cultivation within the district boundaries will be supported. Technological support will be provided to the producers to increase productivity and quality, and assistance will also be given to the marketing of the produced products.

Coordinated by the Directorate of Agricultural Services, Akdeniz Municipality, which has embarked on an initiative in organic and local agriculture with the production of ancestral black mulberry seeds, sugar beet, moringa, zucchini, and maralfalfa on idle agricultural lands, has signed a vital protocol for fig producers. The protocol, signed between Akdeniz Municipality Mayor Mustafa Gültak and Dr. Birgül Ertan, the Director of İncirliova Aydın Fig Research Institute affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, will support Akdeniz producers for the increase in productivity and quality of figs. Indeed, in recent months, Mayor Gültak, who toured the orchards in the Bağlarbaşı Neighborhood, which is affiliated with the district where the earliest 'black fig' harvest was made in Turkey, and did not leave the producers alone during the harvest, stated that they would carry out joint studies with agricultural directorates to increase the black fig yield in the region.

The protocol, named "Collaboration for Agricultural Production Demonstration Studies and Seedling Production for Rural Areas," aims to provide technical consultancy and demonstration of the project in fig cultivation in the agricultural areas of the Akdeniz district, contributing to the supply of seedlings. It is aimed to carry out work to support the producers in rural areas who have the agricultural potential of figs in terms of improving productivity and quality in fig production and contributing to the agricultural product potential of the district. Within the scope of the project, support will be provided for fig production within the borders of Akdeniz, and support will be provided to the producers in the marketing of the produced products.

Furthermore, the protocol foresees that the supply of fig seedlings used in demonstration studies will be covered by the Directorate, and technical support will be provided, and the protocol will be valid until the end of 2024.