Trainees from the Faculty of Agriculture put their theoretical information into practice in the hazelnut yards within the body of Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU).

Deputy Dean of the OMU Faculty of Agriculture Prof. Dr. Yusuf Demir, Mayor of Atakum İshak Taşçı, Deputy Mayor of Canik Alican Usta, and Deputy Mayor of 19 Mayıs Ömer Atik, visited the harvest of approximately 30 students, and they picked up hazelnuts all together.

“An administrative approach together with the people”
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Demir stated: “We are here to share with our press and the local administrations our plans on what we are going to do in order to have a mission and a future, and to brainstorm about these issues all together. We will make efforts together with our students to figure out how the structure of the Faculty of Agriculture is supposed to be. From now on, we will adopt an administrative approach predicting to be not within the borders of the buildings but among the people. We will create a new vision, a new figure and a new infrastructure for our Faculty. At this point, our local administrators and politicians are our most significant supporters, as it is seen today. And as you see, our students put their knowledge into practice, and they learn this profession in the field. I would like to thank everyone who has made contribution to this process”.

“Our university is the pioneering institution of the city”
Mayor of Atakum İshak Taşçı remarked: “As the local administrators of the city, we envisage a serious cooperation with the university. Our university is the pioneer institution of the city in terms of reflecting the scientific data to the people and raising their awareness. I also experienced the practices in the field during my college years. In this regard, we believe that the new administration at the university will make great contribution to our city with its different perspectives. We think that our students will play a significant role in the agricultural and industrial development of Turkey after the graduation by means of the skills that they have obtained through the practices in the field. Hereby, we hope that our university will take great steps on course for a different perspective portfolio. We wish that the approach developed among the people becomes more prominent together with the university, local administration and other public institutions."

“They will have certain advantages in terms of employment”
Prof. Dr. Ümit Serdar, Academician in the Department of Horticulture of the Faculty of Agriculture, worked for the harvest of the hazelnuts in the Research Station together with the students, and he remarked: “We train our students in the hardest conditions; we do not educate them for desk works. Here, we teach our trainees to graft, to trim and to perform other agricultural operations. By this way, they will see themselves as more conscious individuals. They will have more advantages in terms of employment. The field for hazelnuts is 3 decares here. We also have kiwi and chestnut gardens, which are 5 decares in total”.

“An Alternative Method with TUBITAK Project”
Prof. Dr. Serdar mentioned the projects on the base twigs supported by TUBITAK, and he stated: “Our objective is to develop a different method for cleaning the base twigs. But it should be such a method that it can be an alternative for herbicide practices. Herbicides are unfortunately undesirable substances which have negative impacts on the soil when used for a long time. In this project, we use different fertilizer solutions for cleaning the base twigs of the hazelnuts. This is a TUBITAK Project developed for a period of 18 months, and we will get a patent after this operation. We will have found a new method for the cleaning of base twigs. Within this scope, we took stock of both the cloves and the sets of hazelnuts. We determined the numbers of the fruits in a set, and we took fruit samples. We will make quality analyses on these samples. If it becomes successful, an increase will be seen in the productivity at the rate of 20%. By this way, we will have developed an alternative method for the producers of hazelnuts in the Black Sea region. We want to have conscious producers. It means that the producer should enter into the field at least 3-4 times in a year. S/he will not go to the field just for harvesting the hazelnuts. S/he will clean the base twigs, and through this practice, s/he will also place the fertilizers in the soil. We have two locations, one in Çarşamba, and the other one here”.

“We will meet with the producers”
Prof. Dr. Serdar said that the project would be concluded in March, and he remarked that they would organize a series of conferences in different provinces and cities after carrying out statistical analyses of the results. Prof. Dr. Ümit Serdar also underlined that they would meet the producers in these conferences, and that they would explain them the outcomes of their tests. He also added that they would apply for a patent at the end of the project.