Sinan Akdoğan
A team of 20 people from Azerbaijan visited Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) within the scope of the "Improving the Efficiency and Sustainability of the Azerbaijan Hazelnut Industry" project supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / FAO.
In line with the project, it is aimed to examine exemplary orchards and enterprises in Türkiye in order to increase yield and quality in hazelnut cultivation in Azerbaijan.
In addition to the participation of OMU Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture faculty member Prof. Dr. Ümit Serdar as an international expert on increasing the yield and quality of hazelnuts, Gökhan Ayar, a master's student from the same department and employee of Terme District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, will also participate in the project.
Rector Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Selim Eren and Prof. Dr. Sevim Alışır and the Secretary General of the University Assoc. Prof. Dr. İdris Varıcı hosted the Azerbaijan team at the OMU Rectorate Senate Hall meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Head of the Department of Fruit Growing and Horticulture Sector of Viticulture and Winemaking Sahib İbrahimli, the Head of the Department of Fruit Growing and Horticulture Sector of Vegetable Shovgi Lalashov from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Agriculture; expert from Khachmaz (Khachmaz) State Agricultural Development Center Aliagha Shukurlu, project leader from Azerbaijan FAO and Azerbaijan State Agricultural University academician Fagan Aghayev; Dr. Asuman Sezer, agricultural engineer Hidayet Candemir, agricultural consultants and hazelnut producers from the Samsun Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry.
Giving information at the beginning of the meeting about the project's travel and observation points, including different work packages, Prof. Dr. Ümit Serdar said, "We have a 10-day program in the Black Sea Region. First, we will start from our university and go up to Nebiyan Mountain and observe the processes in the hazelnut orchard in the 19 Mayıs District. Then we will visit the Districts of Çarşamba and Terme. In the following days, we will have meetings with the Soil Products Office, agricultural credit cooperatives, and provincial directorates of agriculture. We will also visit the Commodity Exchange and the Hazelnut Research Institute in Giresun and conclude the visits in Fatsa."
After presenting OMU's promotional film and statistical information at the meeting, Rector Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal greeted their guests and wished, "We hope it will be a good start in terms of both cooperation and experience sharing", and said, "As one of the strongest elements of OMU, the Faculty of Agriculture is among the distinguished faculties in Türkiye in terms of both its staff, the contributions it provides to the region, and the projects it produces. Due to its fertile soil and cyclical conditions, Samsun is currently Türkiye's second province with the highest hazelnut production. In fact, it is expected to be the province that will produce the most in the near future. Besides Samsun being a city with highly productive lands, its geography is a bit more suitable compared to Ordu and Giresun."
Rector Ünal stated that about 50 projects related to hazelnuts, 13 outsourced, have been carried out within OMU so far, and continued: “As a university, we care about research and development. Our main goals are to carry out R&D by our University and turn it into a product by actually applying it in the field. Therefore, we think it will be beneficial both to share experience and carry out some projects and experiments together in the upcoming times.”
Emphasizing that the Faculty of Agriculture is a strong faculty with the highest number of departments and researchers in the region, OMU Faculty of Agriculture Deputy Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Öztürk said, "We play a dynamic role in the region, especially in terms of academic studies. Again, 22 projects of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) are currently being carried out, and hazelnut is at the forefront in some of these projects. In this sense, we are in the position of a faculty that makes significant contributions to the country's agriculture."
Presentations were given after the meeting. Prof. Dr. Ümit Serdar addressed the participants about the performance of OMU Faculty of Agriculture with the title of “Our Studies on Hazelnut Cultivation”. Prof. Dr. Serdar pointed out that the Faculty of Agriculture obtained a patent for using nitrogenous solutions to clean hazelnut bottom shoots in 2021 and underlined that this development has an important reference feature for OMU.
Afterwards, Fagan Aghayev, the project leader from Azerbaijan FAO and academician of Azerbaijan State Agricultural University, gave information about hazelnut fields, production and projects in Azerbaijan.
OMU Faculty of Agriculture Department of Plant Protection faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Islam Saruhan focused on research on hazelnut diseases and pests at the meeting, while the Department of Agricultural Economics faculty member Prof. Dr. Mehmet Bozoğlu focused on price formation and hazelnut policies worldwide.
After the presentations, team members from Azerbaijan presented their plaques and gifts to Rector Ünal.
The project team will visit exemplary hazelnut orchards, companies producing agricultural machinery and public and private sector organizations related to hazelnuts in the Provinces of Samsun, Ordu and Giresun for 10 days.
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