The students of the Organic Agriculture department at Gaziantep University Islahiye Vocational School of Higher Education has started harvesting the first tomatoes they have grown in a 21,500 square feet greenhouse.
Under the “Greenhouse Production in Practice” project carried out by the department, these tomatoes are grown for the first time in the district of Islahiye in order to educate students, to prepare them for their careers after graduation, to increase greenhouse production in the area and to set an example for the farmers in the region and to guide them in expanding their production.
The main person responsible for the project Assistant Prof. Ahmet Deveci: “We have planted 5,500 tomato seedlings and we have gotten products from 95% of them. This shows that tomatoes can be grown in the region and gives hope to the farmers in the region. We are offering the first harvest of tomatoes to our university personnel and students but later it will be sold to local markets and contribute to our university budget. The students have worked in all phases in the greenhouse such as irrigation, disinfestation, fertilization and harvesting and gained a lot of knowledge in the process. We have also shown the greenhouse production in the area is feasible. We hope the farmers will follow our example.”
Source: olaymedya.com