Kocaeli Becoming a Hub for Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Production

Kocaeli to Become a Center for Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Production The Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Project (TABİP), prepared by the Metropolitan Municipality, aims to establish Kocaeli as a center for medicinal and aromatic plant production. Hasan Aydınlık, Deputy General Secretary of the Metropolitan Municipality, made statements on the subject. Aydınlık stated: "We will create processing capacity not only for our province but also for similar products from all Marmara region and nearby provinces. With TÜBİTAK, we have established a system to process these in our country and ensure that value-added remains domestic." KOCAELI (AA) - ŞENGÜL AZBAY - In Kocaeli, medicinal mint, rosemary and oregano were planted at 75 locations in the city to encourage high value-added medicinal and aromatic plant production. Under the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Project, medicinal mint, rosemary and oregano planted across 1,500 decare have begun to be harvested by female workers and farmers. The harvested products will be processed as aromatic plant oil at the Sekapark A.Ş. Supercritical Fluid Extraction Facility, established with an 8 million lira investment by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality and TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM), and will be exported.

Deserves to Rank Among World's Best Quality Products

Hasan Aydınlık, Deputy General Secretary of the Metropolitan Municipality, made statements to the AA correspondent. Aydınlık stated that they carried out harvesting operations across 75 fields within the TABİP activities and said that the area reached 1,500 decare with the saplings planted this year. In his statements, Aydınlık emphasized that within the framework of the vision put forward by Metropolitan Mayor Tahir Büyükakın, they aim to produce alternative products in villages. Aydınlık said: "Previously, there was a system where these plants' value-added was taken from our country to foreign countries. These returned as cosmetic products, pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements, leaving most of the value-added abroad. For this reason, we particularly focused the activities of our Sekapark A.Ş. company on medicinal aromatic plants. Through our cooperation protocol with TÜBİTAK MAM, using the technological plant package they produce, we extract these products' extracts with the most advanced technology using the supercritical carbon dioxide method. We found that the resulting products deserve to rank among the world's best quality products in terms of content. The content of our products is also certified by TÜBİTAK."

"Becomes a Major Source of Income"

Producer Rıfat Dursun also made statements regarding the project. Dursun noted that the municipality provided saplings free of charge and provided all types of equipment support. Dursun, who said he planted medicinal aromatic plants across approximately 10 decare, stated: "Previously, I was planting watermelon, corn and wheat on my field. I had heard the name of medicinal aromatic plants but had not planted them. We trusted the municipality and thought it would be beneficial. Currently, 20 workers are employed in the field. For them, it becomes a major source of income." Aysun Yılmaz, a worker in the field, noted that the harvest period went well and said: "This project has been good in terms of female employment. It is a source of income for us."