Search for European Projects

Hatay Tıbbi ve Aromatik Bitkiler Sektöründe İyi Tarım Uygulamaları (T.A.B.S.İ.T.U.)
Start date: Dec 31, 2015, End date: Dec 30, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Good Agricultural Practices in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Sector of Hatay (GAPMAPS-Hatay) The Project aims to increase the knowledge, proficiency and efficiency of Hatay Provincial Directorate of Food Agriculture and Livestock’s personnel who provides education and agricultural extensions for farmers. It's also planned in the project onsite monitoring good agricultural practices which directly or indirectly affect medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) sector as on-the-job training and sharing knowledge about medicinal and aromatic plants of Hatay province. MAPs have been used as food or medicine throughout history. Its market volume with new usage areas has reached about $ 60 billion a year especially in the last 25-30 years. Turkey exports these plants to about 100 countries. But ironically import figures have increased. It should be approached locally to solve this problem. Hatay province has 550 medicinal and aromatic plant species. MAPs sector is facing significant problems despite its existing great potential in Hatay. In this context, sectorial and stakeholder analysis revealed that main problems are insensible collection of these plants from nature, not culturing the plants and insufficient evaluation of collected plants. In particular, flora of these plants is damaged by insensible people who make collecting as a job and plants are lose their values. Additionally lack of marketing and organization harms the sector and reduces the attractiveness. Unstable and irregular use of pesticides and chemicals because of the farming mistakes which are the general problem of the agriculture causes products to threaten human and animal health. As a result, revenues from the sector decrease, thus people are headed to different products and applications. In this context, good agricultural practices should be activated. Good agricultural practices are the agricultural production method that socially viable, economically profitable-efficient and it protects human, animal and environmental health without harming, provides traceability and sustainability in agriculture and food safety. It was decided to provide support of local institutions to agriculture sector which needs education and knowledge about good agricultural practices in the Rural Development Strategic Plan of Hatay Province. In this context, a unit named "Aromatic-Medicinal Plants and Dye Plants" was constituted within the structure of Hatay Provincial Directorate of Food Agriculture and Livestock and aims education and agricultural extension for each body in the agriculture sector. As for solutions, a number of educations about MAPs were held and 157 producers were certified. A MAPs museum was established in Hatay. A project was presented to the Regional Development Agency and following the "Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Action Plan" was prepared. In the year 2015, relying on its potential, Hatay was incorporated to project named Development of Production of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants which is implemented by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The project aims to increase professional knowledge and experience of Hatay Provincial Directorate’s staff primarily about good agricultural practices including organic agriculture, farming and marketing which affect MAPs sector. In this sense, the good agricultural practices held in the EU will be shown to the staff and mutual exchange of data will be made with this mobility. Actions will be recorded by visual materials and so it will be used in a booklet which includes other data of MAPs of Hatay together with project outcomes. Additionally, introduction of MAPs sector of Hatay Province in different channels can create new marketing opportunities. The project activities are divided into three main sections. The preparatory actions include establishment of project management organization, identification of participants and preparatory training. The mobility actions include technical visits and on the job training organised by the host partner. 15 official technical personnel of Provincial Directorate of Hatay will attend the mobility process. In the last segment, project outcomes will be evaluated and worked up in to education and agricultural extension material. Thus, in the short term, the participants will provide wider dissemination of good agricultural practices by transfer of knowledge and experience in the relevant subject whether farmers and producers or other personnel of Hatay Provincial Directorate. An improvement of profitability of enterprises that perform good agricultural practices in the agricultural production sector primarily in the MAPs sector will increase relevancy to it. Besides, sectorial improvement can substitute itself by providing high quality raw materials to all sectorial units which have difficulty in obtaining raw MAP materials and ensure new sources of revenue to farmers in each period. In the long run, export capacity of the province and so country may increase.
Up2Europe Ads

Coordinator

Details

1 Partners Participants