EBRD provides loan to May Seed

LONDON

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it is extending a 12 million-euro loan to May Seed, one of the leading seed producers in Türkiye.

The EBRD loan will help May Seed expand its operations, renovate production and research and development (R&D) facilities, enhance the automation of R&D and partially replace an existing EBRD loan, the development banks said in a statement. The financing will strengthen the company’s position in Türkiye and existing export markets and help it venture into new export markets, it added.

Promoting resilience to the climate crisis, the Bank’s funds will support May Seed in a plan to increase the use of drip irrigation in its sunflower seed production area from 84 percent to 100 percent within four years.

This will reduce water usage, increase water savings by around 40 percent and boost agricultural productivity by approximately 20 percent in terms of yields.

Providing new economic opportunities for people in remoter regions of Türkiye, May Seed will also develop and implement an EBRD-backed advisory project to provide technical and vocational training to local farmers who grow seeds, according to the statement.

By 2024, May Seed aims to have trained 600 farmers in the Marmara and South Eastern regions of Türkiye, with around 20 percent of these trainees likely to be women.

Young farmers will also have access to a vocational program, including classroom and on-site training, which is expected to receive national accreditation from a Turkish university.

The EBRD has invested more than €16 billion in 376 projects in the country since 2009, with the overwhelming majority of those projects being in the private sector.