Scientist develops biotechnological fertilizer

MERSİN

An academic has successfully developed a biotechnological fertilizer that will increase crop yields by up to 70 percent and reduce the country’s foreign dependence in terms of fertilizers.

Furkan Ayaz, associate professor and faculty member at Mersin University’s Department of Biotechnology, started his research two years ago to find a solution to the fertilizer problem that has made Turkish agriculture foreign-dependent.

Developing a biotechnological fertilizer, Ayaz tested this product in fields consisting of cotton, silage corn, barley and wheat and got positive results. In the fields planted for trial purposes, yield increases between 20 and 70 percent were obtained, depending on the product.

Ayaz stated that they obtained biotechnological fertilizers as a result of the trials they carried out together with biotechnologists, the Tarsus Municipality, associations working in partnership with the United Nations and Mersin University Biotechnology Research Center.

“We obtained yield increase results of 40 percent in cotton, 20 percent in silage corn, 40 percent in barley, and 60 percent in wheat. In some fields, we detected yield increases of up to 70 percent. We are still continuing our studies on the molecular mechanism of the product.”

The professor pointed out that with this project, Türkiye’s dependence on foreign fertilizers could finally come to an end.

“One of the biggest problems in Turkish agriculture is the foreign fertilizer issue and the poisoning of our soils with excessive fertilization. As scientists, we aim to prevent this. The project will also reduce the expenses of farmers. We want to bring solutions to the changing conditions of the world, especially the climate and the cost increases caused by the pandemic and the situations that occur in the logistics areas,” Ayaz said.