Turkey, the leader of Europe and the fourth country in the world in terms of geothermal resource wealth, is preparing to have a say in the world with its geothermal greenhouse applications.
Geothermal greenhouses, which play a vital role in accessing healthy and cost-effective food, are being established in many parts of Turkey; The energy costs of greenhouses are minimized with geothermal, which is a domestic, clean, and sustainable resource.
Giving information about geothermal greenhouse applications in Turkey, Geothermal Energy Association (JED) Chairman of the Board Ali Kinap stated that the geothermal greenhouse area, which is around 450 hectares in the country, is far below the country's potential and said, "With the right policies and incentive mechanisms, we can easily reach nationwide a greenhouse area of 10,000 hectares in 10 years. This way, we can provide more than 100,000 new jobs in agriculture and facilitate access to healthy and cheap food. For this, we need to understand the value of geothermal, which we regard as the sun under our feet, in terms of the country's economy and make use of it to the fullest."
As geothermal greenhouses play a key role in overcoming the quality and productivity problems in production, which are the most important problems of the agricultural sector, Kindap emphasized that Turkey has the potential to become the world's production base in soilless agricultural practices with the increase in the number of geothermal greenhouses.
Ali Kindap noted that the existing geothermal greenhouses in Turkey had surpassed expectations in terms of efficiency and added that it is possible to produce agricultural products with high added value and export capability, especially tropical products, in greenhouses that provide the opportunity to produce agricultural products at the desired scale and in all seasons.
Ali Kindap made the following assessment: "Investors have completed their allocations in the Agricultural-Based Specialized Zone, which is continuing its establishment on a 300-hectare area in Dikili, Izmir. Additionally, another project, whose establishment works are continuing in Balikesir-Gonen, will be the largest not only in our country but also in the world, with 800 hectares. These production centers will play a very important role in overcoming the added value problem in agriculture. With the vegetable and fruit drying facilities to be built together with geothermal greenhouses, we, as Turkey, will take our place in every link of the value-added agricultural chain. While geothermal greenhouses enable agricultural production for 12 months of the year, they can make our country a brand in the world with very high added value, such as tropical plant and fruit production."
Source: Aydinlik