A Shared Vision for a Sustainable Future in Agriculture

With contributions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the TurkMedia Sustainable Agriculture Summit, organized under the sponsorship of Turkish Airlines, Turk Telekom, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bank, Neova Insurance, Sampo-Rosenlew and Tera Investment Bank, concluded successfully by bringing together leading representatives of the sector.

At the summit, which brought together the public sector, private sector, finance and technology worlds on the same platform, the future of sustainable agriculture, food security, adaptation to climate change, production planning and technological transformation were evaluated comprehensively.

Strategic importance of agriculture emphasized
Murat Çiçek, Chairman of the TurkMedia Executive Board, who delivered the opening address of the summit, drew attention to the strategic importance of the agricultural sector for Turkey.

Noting that they created an important platform for developing sustainable production models and producing solutions to current problems in the sector, Çiçek stated that agriculture plays a critical role not only in terms of food supply security, but also in economic development, rural development, employment and exports.

Ziraat Bank General Manager Alpaslan Çakar, in his remarks, noted that the global economy is passing through a period of intensified uncertainties due to increasing geopolitical risks, protectionist trade policies and regional conflicts, and said that financing is of critical importance for the sustainability of the agricultural sector.

Çakar drew attention to the fact that in addition to production, storage, logistics, infrastructure and technology investments are strategic priorities for agricultural development.

Minister Yumaklı: "Record production levels may be seen this year"
In the special session of the summit, moderated by Helin Aslan, Moderator at 24 TV; Melik Yiğitel, TurkMedia Ankara Representative, Mustafa Kartoğlu, Editor-in-Chief of Akşam Newspaper, and İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, made their assessments.

While sustainable agriculture policies, production planning, food supply security and Turkey's agricultural vision were discussed in the session, Minister Yumaklı gave important messages regarding the sector.

Noting that Turkey is experiencing one of the most productive periods of recent years in terms of precipitation, Yumaklı made the following assessment:

"This year we have experienced one of the most productive periods of the last 66 years in terms of precipitation. The reservoir levels in our dams have reached 81 percent. With the positive effect of rainfall, record production levels may be seen in agricultural production this year."

Technology and climate adaptation on the agriculture agenda
Erkan Kol moderated the second session of the summit, titled "Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security: Climate Change Adaptation and Technological Transformation."

The panel included Dr. Cebrail Taşkın, Vice Chairman and General Manager of the Board of Management of Tera Investment Technology Holding, Cem Seven, Board Member of the Agricultural Technologies Cluster (TÜME), Ertuğrul Çelik, Deputy General Manager of the Agricultural Insurance Pool (TARSİM), and Kemalettin Bayat, Head of Agricultural Banking Group at Ziraat Bank as speakers.

Participants shared their views and suggestions on sustainable production models, innovations in agricultural technologies, the effects of climate change on the sector, risk management practices and financing solutions.

A shared vision for the sector's future was created
The TurkMedia Sustainable Agriculture Summit hosted important assessments regarding the future of agriculture by comprehensively addressing critical topics of the sector ranging from sustainable production to digital agriculture applications, from food security to combating climate change.

The summit, which brought together representatives from the public sector, private sector, finance and technology under the same roof, contributed to the sharing of knowledge and experience, while also laying the groundwork for developing a shared vision in line with the sector's sustainable growth targets.

The TurkMedia Sustainable Agriculture Summit concluded following the presentation of gifts to speakers and a group photograph.