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- October 13, 202618°
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Erzincan farmers diversify with heirloom wheat and camelina
Farmers in Erzincan are turning to alternative crops such as karakılçık wheat and camelina due to demand for healthy eating. Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Alper Koçaker announced a projected 30% rise in grain yields.
Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Alper Koçaker visited an organic farming operation on about 4,000 decares of land in the Çadırkaya town of Erzincan’s Tercan district and received information about production work.
Speaking to an AA reporter, Koçaker said that Erzincan has about 140,000 hectares of arable farmland and that many crops are grown in the province, led by barley, wheat, sugar beet and sunflower.
Noting that the growing demand for healthy eating in recent years has led farmers to alternative crops, Koçaker said that karakılçık wheat and camelina production has gained importance.
Stressing that karakılçık wheat is an heirloom seed, Koçaker said: “In recent years, our farmers have started producing alternative crops to meet the needs of both healthy nutrition and citizens with certain dietary disorders. The foremost among these is karakılçık wheat. This year, trial planting was carried out on about 10 decares.”
Explaining that the camelina plant has gained prominence in recent years, Koçaker added: “Camelina, with its distribution of fatty acids, finds use in the cosmetics industry, soap making, biogas and biodiesel production. Additionally, in recent years, some scientific studies in our country have been conducted on how certain camelina species may be beneficial in cancer treatment due to their chemical compounds. As the Ministry, we continue to support them in new trials, developing new varieties and in their current traditional production.”
Emphasizing that this year's rains falling in season had a positive impact on production, Koçaker said: “Based on our field observations and yield measurements by our teams, we expect a 30% increase especially in the grain group this year. This is also proof of how strong our country's agricultural production potential actually is, and that if climatic conditions remain favorable we can achieve significant harvests from our current crops. If the season continues this way, hopefully we will see a 30% higher yield in Erzincan this year.”
Farm manager and agricultural engineer Oktay Durmaz, for his part, said that on about 4,000 decares of land they grow 2,100 decares of wheat, nearly 1,200 decares of oilseed sunflower and 350 decares of sugar beet, and that they also plant barley, buckwheat, karakılçık wheat and camelina.
Stating that they expect high yields in wheat and sunflower if seasonal rains continue, Durmaz said they aim to bring karakılçık wheat back into production as an heirloom seed.
Providing information about the camelina plant, Durmaz said: “Camelina is a plant with high oil content. We used to add it to flour for breadmaking, grind it together with wheat at the mill and make bread from its flour. Its oil content is very good, it is very beneficial for people with diabetes; bread made from it can be easily consumed by people with diabetes. We produce it, and we also extract its oil to make cream and soap. It is very beneficial for skin conditions like eczema.”
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