Applications Continue for "Technological and Innovative Solutions in Agriculture" Competition

A competition titled "Technological and Innovative Solutions in Agriculture," launched by Women in Technology Association (WTECH) and aimed at encouraging ideas and projects that will contribute to agricultural sustainability, is accepting applications. Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the competition is open to university students and women-led early-stage agricultural entrepreneurs, with total prizes of TRY 145,000. The project aims to increase women's power and visibility in agriculture. Women in Technology Association (Wtech) has organized a competition titled "Technological and Innovative Solutions in Agriculture" to promote new ideas, projects, products and services that will contribute to and strengthen the impact on agricultural sustainability. The competition supports women engineers, veterinarians and entrepreneurs with innovative solutions that will create transformation in agriculture, while also aiming to develop awareness among young people of sustainability, teamwork, project development, problem-solving, leadership and responsibility. The purpose of the competition is to ensure that women entrepreneurs concentrate on sustainable agricultural technologies. In addition, it is planned to increase productivity in agriculture through solutions obtained in this way.

In the competition, the winning team in the entrepreneur category will receive TRY 100,000, while in the university students category the first place will receive TRY 30,000, second place TRY 10,000, and third place TRY 5,000.

Open to all women entrepreneurs, professionals and students

The target audience of the competition, which includes women engineers, women engineering students, women entrepreneurs, women farmers, universities, public institutions, relevant NGOs, media and private sector representatives, is as follows:

• Increasing efficiency, quality and profitability in agricultural production through advanced techniques and technology use
• Development of new techniques and technologies for increasing efficiency, quality and profitability in agricultural production
• Providing sales prices and alternative marketing channels
• Organization of planning and support
• Management of climate change risks
• Food safety and traceability

Winning projects and teams will receive development support

The competition, organized in two separate categories as "University" and "Entrepreneur," is currently accepting applications. Within the scope of the competition, a one-day online entrepreneurship training will be held on 27 March 2021, and a two-day online entrepreneurship camp will be held on 3 April 2021 and 4 April 2021. In the entrepreneurship camp, mentor meetings will be conducted with teams on 4 different topics such as business models, marketing, product and service development, and strategy and business development, thereby supporting the development of projects and teams. Entrepreneurs who wish to participate in the competition can learn all details, including participation conditions, from the project website at https://tarimdakadinliderler.com/. Applications can also be made through the same address. Projects and entrepreneurs that pass the preliminary selection will be evaluated by a jury composed of leading figures in the field.

Zehra Öney: "We must develop female role models in agriculture"

Zehra Öney, Chair of the Board of Women in Technology Association, made the following statement about the project: "Since the day Wtech was founded, we have been working to increase the number of women in STEM fields and make a visible contribution to the employment gap in the sector. Through this competition we have launched under the framework of "End Hunger" within the scope of UNDP Sustainable Development Goals, we aim to serve social development while also making women's transformative power in the sector visible. We attach importance to supporting and encouraging women in this field to develop female role models in agriculture. We invite young people and new entrepreneurs through https://tarimdakadinliderler.com/ to this competition to create effective solutions for sustainable agriculture in our country."

Wtech's goal is to fill the skilled workforce gap in technology

Women in Technology Association (Wtech) was established on 31 January 2019 to meet the need for expert human resources that are lacking and will increasingly be lacking in science and technology fields, to invest in specialized training and increase the number of skilled individuals, to make Turkey a strong and globally competitive country in technology; and to increase Turkey's prosperity.