The closing conference of the capacity building and networking project to support the UK-Turkey cooperation in agricultural technologies (AGRITECH), organized by Boğaziçi University Innovation and Competitive Development Studies Application and Research Center with the contribution of the British Embassy, was held at Boğaziçi University on 6 March.
Boğaziçi University Rector Prof. Dr. In his opening speech, Mehmed Özkan mentioned that although there is no agriculture faculty within Boğaziçi University, thanks to the knowledge produced by different disciplines and fields of expertise at the university, it has come to the point of developing solutions to the problems in the field of agriculture today. Özkan stated that the concept of innovation came into play during the application of the accumulated knowledge to agriculture; He stated that this cooperation developed with the United Kingdom as a university will be the beginning of new projects that will open the horizon in the field of agricultural technologies.
Judith Slater, British Consul General in Istanbul, who attended the conference On the other hand, he expressed his pleasure to make his first official visit to Boğaziçi University thanks to the cooperation in question. Slater stated that technology-based agriculture projects are supported under the UK-based Prosperity Fund. Stating that in today's conditions, science and technology-based smart agriculture applications create an important market around the world, Slater said that as the United Kingdom, they carry out various joint projects with academia and business world in particular. Slater also added that considering Turkey's active role in agriculture as a developing economy, they aim to extend this cooperation, which started with the Prosperity Fund, to new areas .
Expert speakers from Turkey and England summarized the current agricultural technologies situation in Turkey, and made determinations and suggested solutions on the current problems of the food sector and precision agriculture technologies. British Consul General in Istanbul Judith Slater also attended the conference .
Boğaziçi University Innovation and Competition-Oriented Development Studies Application and Research Center Director Assoc. Dr. Aslı Helvacıoğlu from Boğaziçi University, Prof. Dr. Arzu Tektaş and Knowledge Transfer Network UK Food Department Head Dr. One of the speakers of the conference, where experts, especially Jayne Brookman, made their presentations, Prof. Bogazici University Department of Economics lecturer. Dr. Gökhan Özertan , in his presentation titled ''Agricultural Vision and Future of Turkey''; He stated that different sectors should work together and side by side. In this context, Özertan mentioned the necessity of all stakeholders to act with a common mind, especially on issues such as how agricultural development should be, how farmers will adapt to this situation in the face of climate change, which is the most important reality of today, and the level of R&D and innovation in agriculture. Stating that Turkey's agricultural R&D expenditures have grown threefold since the mid-2000s according to the OECD 2016 report, however, Özertan stated that it is one of the countries with the lowest agricultural R&D expenditures in terms of added value in the OECD region. He pointed out that he wanted to develop a strategic vision. prof. Dr. Arzu Tektaş, on the other hand, stated that Turkey can create a great potential by adapting smart technologies, innovative approaches and innovation-oriented thinking to the entire agricultural supply chain, especially the producers, in line with the vision of "Agriculture 4.0". prof. Dr. Arzu Tektaş, by clarifying the concept of "being connected" within the framework of Agriculture 4.0, to create an integrated system from the field to the consumer; He drew attention to the importance of all agricultural supply chain players working for common purposes in line with the country's agricultural technology strategy, and information sharing and continuous information flow among all players.
Boğaziçi University Innovation and Competition-Oriented Development Studies Application and Research Center Director Assoc. Dr. Aslı Deniz Helvacıoğlu drew attention to the importance of innovation-oriented development in agriculture and said, “Interdisciplinary studies in agriculture provide us the opportunity to develop competitive strategies with high added value, especially in innovation-oriented development models. With the agricultural technologies information and communication network, which we can describe as the Agritech Network today, as our Center, we can reach almost all stakeholders in the Turkish agricultural sector and we are quite satisfied with the motivation we have achieved among the stakeholders.
Boğaziçi University Innovation and Competition-Oriented Development Studies Application and Research Center produces information on technology in agriculture with its research and carries out projects for innovative development by collaborating with the sectors. The main purpose of the center in the AGRITECH project is summarized as developing the capacity of the agricultural technologies ecosystem in Turkey. The center created an information and communication network with the participation of various stakeholders such as researchers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and suppliers from the UK and Turkey, with AGRITECH workshops and conferences.
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