The Governor of Aydın, Yavuz Selim Köşger, Rector Prof. Dr. Osman Selcuk Aldemir, ADÜ Technopark General Manager, Assoc. Dr. Cemal İyem, Aydın Commodity Exchange Board Member, Kazım Günaydın, Aydın Agriculture and Forestry Provincial Director, Ahmet Ökdem and many academicians participated in the workshop.
Starting his speech by emphasizing the importance of the workshop because it was organized for the first time in Aydın, ADÜ Technopark General Manager Assoc. Dr. Cemal İyem said: "As ADÜ Technopark, we attended meetings held in the region and visited representatives of the sector involved with figs. As a result of the meetings and activities, we reached a consensus that the organization of this workshop would be beneficial for our city and our region. I would like to thank Rector Prof. Dr. Osman Selcuk Aldemir for supporting us on this matter. Assoc. Dr. Cemal İyem conveyed detailed information about the preliminary preparations of the workshop and the programme flow.
Member of the Board of Directors of Aydın Commodity Exchange Kazım Günaydın, stating that they will always support such activities, expressed that the workshop will continue in the coming period with the participation of agricultural chambers, executive units, farmers, merchants and exporters in addition to university members. He laid emphasis on the fact that agricultural problems should be identified and resolved to prevent the decline in fig production which has started in recent years.
Giving information about the fig, which is the most precious fruit of Aydın, Aydın Agriculture and Forestry Provincial Director Ahmet Ökdem talked about the prestigious situation of the fig of Aydın in the world by stating that “We are in the first position in our country and in the world with 37 thousand hectares of production area and 186 thousand tons of production.”.
Addressing the sanctity of the fig and wishing the workshop to bring quality results, Rector. Prof. Dr. Osman Selcuk Aldemir said “Stakeholders from the sector and academicians gathered together for this blessing which was mentioned with ‘Kasem’ (oath) by the Divine Creator in a verse of the Holy Quran.
If we want to differentiate in interregional competition and create a production structure based on innovation of the potential of the region, we have to develop cooperation between the public sector, private sector and non-governmental organizations, ensure the efficient and proper use of resources and fulfil the local potential. I hope that this workshop, which I believe will be an occasion to develop an academic perspective between the real sector and the university, will contribute to new collaborations and projects with you. I offer my respects and regards to all participants and those involved on behalf of the ADU Family.
Delivering the final speech of the workshop the Governor of Aydın Yavuz Selim Köşger said that the fig is mentioned as a sacred fruit in the Holy Quran and in all holy divine religions and stated that “We are not fully aware of the value of the fig growing in our region. Aydın is the biggest exporter of dried figs in the world. We have to carry out quality fig production by increasing quantity and quality.” He also stated that the workshop will become more effective and contribute to our province and region with the contributions of our academicians.
In the last section of “The Problems with Figs and Their Solutions Workshop”, groupwork was done and reports were presented.
From five groups, the first group, Cultivation Problems of the Fig group tried to find solutions to the reduction of fig production and the decreasing size of the fields, the planning of production areas and the development of fig cultivation techniques.
The Harvest, Storage and Processing Problems group, which emphasized the importance of harvesting, storage, drying and processing stages, aimed to convey the fresh fig to domestic and foreign markets and to minimize post-harvest losses by determining the harvest time accurately and protecting them from mechanical damage with the necessary care during harvesting.
In the third group, where the name of the Sorting Techniques and Aflatoxin Analysis Group was changed to Sorting Techniques and Mycotoxin Analysis Group, focused on the production of aflatoxin sorting machines locally in Turkey, their arrangement in other mycotoxins according to the signs that may be common and creation of cold storage depots based on state-supported farmers in regions where production is high.
Legislation, Control, Audit and Marketing Group, which was the fourth group, emphasized the importance of auditor trainings, more strict supervision of private laboratories by the Ministry and establishment of a provincial control laboratory in Aydın for the purpose of solving the problems in the processes.
In the final group, Geothermal Energy and Fig Group, risk maps showing the levels of the harmful effects caused by geothermal resources by using remote sensing, geographic information system and geostatistical techniques were formed. In the conclusion section; the detailed analysis of productivity, production and residues of the products grown in the region, especially the fig, and the investigation of the values in soil and water resources were reported as results.
