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AgriCities Uluslararası Tarım Şehirleri Birliği Üyesi Belediye Başkanları Tarım Hakkında Konuşuyor
Tomarza Belediye Başkanı
Tomarza Belediye Başkanı
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HaberlerDöküm
00:00Our guest on the program is the Mayor of Tomarza Municipality in Kayseri, Mr. Osman Koç.
00:05Hello Mr. President.
00:08Hello.
00:09Mr. President, we congratulate you on Ramadan. How is Ramadan going in Tomarza, Mr. President?
00:17Thank you. Ramadan is peaceful in Tomarza.
00:22Here, we are experiencing the tranquility, serenity, and blessings of Ramadan, savoring its joy.
00:32We are reinforcing what we mean by "together" with our fellow citizens.
00:35Hopefully, we will become even more united during the holiday season with the other pieces we are receiving from abroad.
00:44Thankfully, there haven't been any accidents or troubles so far.
00:48During Ramadan, we perform our worship in that peaceful and reverent manner.
00:54During Ramadan, of course, like every municipality, we also have various activities.
01:00Here our iftar gathering continues.
01:02Our support for IAS continues.
01:04To our disabled citizens, to our children, to those who couldn't come to the iftar, even to the slaughterhouse.
01:10These are routine things that don't even need to be explained anymore; they're not even among the services offered.
01:16Because these things have become routine.
01:18Nowadays, we believe that without these things, municipal services are incomplete.
01:23Therefore, it's going very well.
01:26I hope you are all doing well too.
01:28It's going well, Mr. President.
01:30We are also working very hard to make Ramadan enjoyable for everyone.
01:33Thank you very much.
01:34Mr. President, you are certainly an experienced figure.
01:37We know that you also served as a member of provincial councils for many years.
01:42You have also been providing services related to rural areas in Tomarza and Kayseri for a long time.
01:48Now as mayor.
01:49So, here's something you can share with our esteemed member chairpersons who are watching us,
01:56Could you briefly summarize your work related to agricultural production in Tomarza, focusing on rural areas?
02:03First, if you'd like, I can show you a photograph of Tomarza.
02:08Agriculture in Tomarza.
02:09Yes, that's great.
02:10We own 1 million 380 thousand decares of land.
02:17Of this, 610,000 decares are arable land.
02:23The rest are divided areas such as forests, pastures, settlements, and mountainous regions.
02:30In other words, areas unsuitable for agriculture.
02:32Since approximately 610,000 decares have a well system, not all wells are registered.
02:39Therefore, I cannot give an exact figure, but currently, 100,000 decares of land are being used for irrigated farming.
02:48Of this area, 20,000 decares are located along the Zamantı River.
02:53Those familiar with the Pınarbaşı region will know it.
02:55The river originates in our Pınarbaşı district and continues from here all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
03:03Now 20,000 decares are irrigated from there via a canal system, and there are cooperatives.
03:07Those units were transferred to the state water works, as you know.
03:10In other areas, our land is irrigated by wild irrigation or by well systems, or artesian systems.
03:16So, our 500,000 decares of land are still in need of water.
03:22We now have 500,000 decares of land where we do marginal farming.
03:27As for the types of crops, since irrigation was not previously done except from rivers other than the Zamantı River,
03:36Only crops such as barley, wheat, rye, vetch, and sainfoin were grown.
03:42Recently, this has been diversified.
03:44With the transition to irrigated farming, our annual sugar beet production is around 90,000 tons.
03:55We have 132,000 tons of potatoes.
03:58Potatoes have now become an industry in our district.
04:03Apart from that, we also have a pumpkin seed production of 6,000 tons, which may seem small in number.
04:09It can stop, but...
04:1030% of Türkiye's agricultural production takes place in the Kayseri region.
04:14Pumpkin seeds, snack pumpkin seeds.
04:1630% of Kayseri's production takes place here.
04:19So, while Kayseri produces a total of 18,000 tons of pumpkins and pumpkin seeds, 6,000 tons of that is produced right here in our region.
04:27As you know, pumpkin seeds are a very special product.
04:30It won't grow in good soil.
04:31It doesn't grow in good soil.
04:33Where wheat grows, where good wheat is grown, there will be no pumpkin seeds.
04:37So, no matter how much you irrigate or do whatever you want in the Harran Plain, you can't grow pumpkin seeds.
04:43This is actually an alternative product to what we know as the main agricultural staple products, such as wheat, rye, and barley.
04:55It has also been added to our production inventory.
04:59We have had a profitable production method for many years.
05:01Therefore, our farmers are currently able to stand on their own feet and breathe thanks to this.
05:08Let me give you last year's figures.
05:11Our input costs were generally 60 TL.
05:17Of course, that doesn't include labor costs.
05:19We make a mistake in agriculture when it comes to labor costs.
05:22We don't complain about the fact that we work hard, that our children work in the field.
05:28We don't throw it away to eat or use as an ingredient.
05:30We're offering it for free.
05:31In the case we put it in, it's 60 TL, and we're doing it with wheat as well.
05:37It had an input.
05:38It was sold for between 130 and 210 TL.
05:45Based on weight.
05:46The price per ton has also increased to 210,000 TL.
05:48So, someone who produced 10 tons of pumpkins earned over 2 million Turkish Lira.
05:52That was a very serious price to pay.
05:54Our farmers breathed a sigh of relief thanks to this, and it's been going on like this for years.
05:57So, currently our intercropping is pumpkin seeds, but it continues to be a leading crop in our main production.
06:05Now, this is our arable, cultivable land in Domarca.
06:09Unfortunately, we don't have any land suitable for planting.
06:11Now, I'm not saying this to imply ethnic discrimination, but in terms of way of life and culture, I'm talking about this place.
06:21This area was formerly an Armenian region where Armenians lived.
06:25Later, with the establishment of the Republic, Armenians left this place, and people came from Maraş, the majority of whom were from Maraş.
06:31Later, this place was settled by a group of people who were migrants or exchangees.
06:39The Armenians used to have very beautiful vineyards.
06:42You know, vineyards are Armenian business, grape business.
06:45We actually have a very beautiful vineyard region that is a continuation of Cappadocia.
06:49But our Turkish ancestors, back then, didn't know about wine, didn't know about winemaking, didn't know about grapes, of course; for us, grapes are for eating.
06:56They didn't use that vineyard area as it should have, commercially, but perhaps partly out of spiritual feelings.
07:03Those areas need to be reorganized now.
07:07I won't go into too much detail as the area isn't very well known, but we have a crescent-shaped plot of land in Marjada,
07:13This plot of land we have is quite large.
07:17So I'm talking about a crescent-shaped curve that's about 200 kilometers long.
07:22Although we have suitable areas here for vineyard cultivation, suitable for a vertical crescent shape
07:27Here is Hacıpaşa, the starting point is Hacıpaşa, the Hacıpaşa coat of arms, those who know will recognize it as Türkiye's most famous coat of arms.
07:33It has a different taste, a different aroma, and so on.
07:37Then there's the molasses from the coal, the molasses from the castle—and we have a village we call a castle—and we have wonderful grapes from it.
07:45These are edible grapes.
07:46We also have wine grape growing areas within our vineyard region.
07:49So it needs improvement, but somehow it hasn't been addressed and nothing has been done about the other problems, the other problems of agriculture.
08:02That's how we talk.
08:04We think it's time to incorporate this into the program.
08:10As you know, we also have a fruit juice factory called Meysu here, in Kayseri, which is 50 kilometers away from us.
08:17Very close.
08:18We will hopefully begin a collaborative project with him next year.
08:23This is what they call certified farming; we will grow them together and there will be a guaranteed purchase.
08:29Hopefully we'll succeed.
08:31Yes, I can describe the picture of Tomarza to you in this way, in the agricultural section.
08:37Unfortunately, that's not a picture of happiness.
08:39I can only describe the picture of Tomarza to you.
08:41How nice.
08:42Thank you, Mr. President.
08:43Mr. President, if you could also briefly share some of the other initiatives you've undertaken to enhance Tomarza's brand value, we would be grateful.
08:54Then let's close it.
08:55Now, the Tomarza brand value actually comes from the fact that our district is 73 years old.
09:00Before that, it was also a sub-district bağlı to Devreli, which was under municipality control.
09:04It's actually a well-established district.
09:06We are a district that is still committed to its traditions.
09:09But as they say, Anatolia is a remote place where no birds can pass and no caravans can go; from a traffic perspective, we are far from the main highway.
09:19We have no railway, no sea route, and we are far from air travel.
09:23Therefore, the fate that geography has brought and imposed upon us is agriculture.
09:28And we've become withdrawn, but lately, in terms of increasing our brand value, we've been on the right track; that's what we were going to be for years.
09:39It just couldn't be managed.
09:40For the past year and a half, we've been creating caravan sites along the timeline.
09:47The necessary permits were obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Sports.
09:53We also have festivals that are very well-attended.
09:57It's now operational, and there's a fantastic daily tourism influx, especially domestic tourism, particularly when the season arrives, with 4 tourists this week.
10:07The number reaches between one thousand and five thousand people.
10:09In a town with a population of 20,000, 5,000 people might not seem like much to our listeners, but it's important to us; it's 25% of our population.
10:17That means we are receiving tourists.
10:20So, this translates to selling 2 tons of meat, 3 tons of water, milk, and bread.
10:28It also provides a commercial benefit to our tradespeople.
10:32In terms of brand value, they had organized a May 19th event there.
10:36It had 1 million viewers, which is something you wouldn't achieve even if you shot a film in a place like Tomarsa.
10:43These campers and caravanners have their own social media accounts that uphold the truth.
10:50They did it there; the last number I saw showed viewership had surpassed 1 million.
10:54Yes, Tomarsa isn't an easy name to pronounce either.
11:00I'm not in favor of changing the names too much.
11:02With every name change, people inevitably talk about the old one.
11:06Where are you from?
11:07I'm from Dadaloğlu, but its old name was Taft.
11:11These things are definitely said.
11:13Therefore, I am not in favor of changing the name.
11:17He is in favor of making the established, well-known name even more recognizable.
11:22This is about camping and caravanning, and we even have our own Beydağ event.
11:26The highest mountain in the region is the peak of the Taurus Mountains, the area we call Beydağ here.
11:31There, we'll also be doing the Beydağ climb, the Beydağ cycling event, and camping and caravan activities.
11:39They celebrated their 13th anniversary there over the years.
11:42They had done it themselves before the municipality did.
11:44And now we are trying to take it further, by fanning the flames and making it even more intense.
11:50Yes, we are an agricultural district, an agricultural city.
11:54We don't have industry.
11:55Although we do conduct industrial trials from time to time, we don't have anyone in our team who can work on that.
12:02The only thing we know here, the only thing that everyone from the 13-year-old child to the 70-year-old woman knows, is agriculture.
12:11How agriculture should be done, its sequence, when to sow, when to harvest, when to apply fertilizer,
12:19Regardless of the rain situation, how it will be, we also have a planning phase here, of course.
12:27Here's the thing, we actually had our soil analyzed.
12:31Our government implemented this practice for a period of time.
12:34I was a member of the general assembly at the time.
12:36They did not pay subsidies for soil that was not analyzed.
12:40On this occasion, our lands were analyzed.
12:43A new practice called land consolidation has been introduced.
12:46And it turned out great.
12:47With land consolidation, we no longer have small plots of land.
12:51Our land holdings have increased.
12:53When we went to those border points, which we call "kile," they were also included in agriculture, and so on.
13:01It turned out great.
13:02From now on, we truly believe that things will only be more productive if those who sow and plant are more careful and attentive.
13:13Since I have the chance, and in case you don't ask, let me ask you now.
13:17If you ask what we expect from you, it's from agricultural cities.
13:22Yes, I just heard something from Ordu recently.
13:28The gluten-free mayor of Ordu was one of our former ministers.
13:33Gluten-free, I heard about it in Erzurum at your meeting.
13:37Gluten-free wheat.
13:39We are the land of wheat.
13:40For example, through a coordination body like this, and with your assistance, we could experiment with gluten-free wheat in our region.
13:49I'll find it at the farmer's.
13:50Our municipality also owns land in this regard.
13:53We'll try.
13:53The alternative is because the existing bread no longer provides our farmers with the same level of profit.
14:00In wheat, our farmers who plant wheat, rye, and barley are only breaking even.
14:05The only thing left over from the government support is profit; nothing else.
14:09I'm saying this in terms of wheat, which is no longer sustainable.
14:12As a result, our farmers don't like such new things.
14:17Someone needs to take the initiative.
14:20It seems like we need to take the lead and organize this.
14:24Or maybe someone planted canola or something like that around here before anyone else did.
14:29In terms of oil, for example.
14:31But we just couldn't explain it.
14:34Guys, nobody's planting anything here because someone else is going to.
14:37That's why I'm saying this for our farmers who will become rich.
14:40Then the other farmers will go.
14:42It's been several years since we've seen it before it sinks.
14:45That's why I'm saying that with this gluten-free wheat, this is what you might expect from us.
14:51Whatever you expect from us, and whatever the army does to help us with gluten-free wheat cultivation, we're ready for anything.
14:58Of course.
14:59Our natural habitat.
15:00Let's work privately.
15:01If you could provide such support as well.
15:04Of course, with all our might, God willing.
15:06What will we gain from this?
15:07Hopefully you can make a contribution.
15:09I think this will give a breath of fresh air to agriculture in Tomarza in the long run.
15:14Hopefully, Mr. President, we can see that you are doing wonderful things for Tomarza.
15:20Thank you very much, Mr. President.
15:21Thank you very much.
15:22If you have a hymn, we can listen to it.
15:25Otherwise, we'll close it.
15:27I would like to extend my best wishes to all my friends and listeners for the upcoming Laylat al-Qadr and the blessed Eid holidays.
15:36I wish peace and health to our country and our nation.
15:40I wish for peace in our world.
15:43Translation and Subtitles by M.K.
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