The Second Transnational Meeting of the "Digital Farmer" Project Hosted by PAU
Within the scope of Erasmus+ Vocational Training, the 2nd Transnational Meeting of the "Digital Farmer" Project and "Digitalization in Agriculture in Turkey and Europe" Panel of the "Digital Farmer" Project, in which Pamukkale University (PAU) is a partner and COSVITEC Societa Consortile Arl is the coordinating institution, supported by the Italian National Agency, was hosted by Pamukkale University.
The 30-month project's partner countries include Italy, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovenia and Estonia. The Digital Farmer project, which has been developed to enable and create a broad and innovative agricultural ecosystem through European partnership, aims to create an international and multi-sectoral network in line with the objectives of empowering stakeholders in the agricultural sector through vocational education and training, developing open source training materials and support tools for educators and trainers for distance learning in the field of agricultural vocational education and training, disseminating good practices and tools available at European level, testing innovative practices within the framework of Erasmus+ and realizing digital trainings that ensure the continuity of vocational learning.
Collaborating institutions of the project; COSVITEC Societa Consortile Arl-Italy, Pamukkale University, Accion Laboral Plataforma Para La Implantacion De Programas De Inclusıon Laboral En Colectivos Desfavorecıdos - Spain, Institouto Proothisis Kai Pistopoiisis Proionton Agroditrofis - Greece, Business Innovation Council srl - Romania, Agency for Territorial Marketing Ltd. - Slovenia, Estonian Fieldbus Competency Center OÜ - Estonia.
Providing brief information about the Digital Farmer Project and the situation in Turkey, project partner PAU Faculty of Technology Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arzum Işıtan stated the following: "Very few countries in the world have plant diversity like Turkey. However, the current situation of the agricultural sector in this advantageous geography is in the form of average subsistence agriculture rather than being professional and in accordance with the requirements of the day. According to the reports of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, most of the agricultural enterprises in the country are small family businesses and productivity is not at the desired level. For sustainable and productive agricultural practices, digitalization in agriculture is among Turkey's priorities. Training of trainers will be carried out within the scope of this project in order to contribute to the learning and implementation of digital agriculture practices by farmers in Turkey and Europe. In cooperation with many local institutions, our university carries out needs analysis in agricultural practices, determination of training needs, preparation of the content of training modules, preparation of digital training materials, pilot applications and measurements."
Panel on Digitalization in Agriculture in Turkey and Europe
The 2nd transnational meeting of the project and "Panel on Digitalization in Agriculture in Turkey and Europe" was hosted by Pamukkale University. Pamukkale University Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. M. Ensar Yeşilyurt and Prof. Dr. Selçuk Yüksel, Dean of the Faculty of Technology Prof. Dr. Osman Nuri Ağdağ, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Prof. Dr. Turan Karadeniz, Faculty of Technology Faculty Member and Project Partner Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arzum Işıtan, panel moderator Prof. Dr. Cem Gök, invited panelists Pierluigi Vurchio and Chi Chi Chiarelli. Prof. Dr. Cem Gök, invited panelists Pierluigi Vurchio and Chiara Picca (Cosvitec), Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Engineering Dean Prof. Dr. İsmail Böğrekçi (Alprobotics Company), Alenka Zelenič (ATM Ltd.), Irene Benito Alonso and Julia Fernández Valdés (Acción Laboral), Vasileiou Katerina and Jenny Tagga (iAgroCert), Camelia Ionescu (BIC), PAU Faculty of Technology faculty members and students participated.
Invited speakers took part in the panel with their evaluation presentations on traditional agriculture and digitalization in agriculture in Europe and Turkey. In the event, the agricultural drone and other products developed by Alprobotics were introduced and a test flight of the agricultural drone was also carried out.
Rector Kutluhan: "By opening our Faculty of Agriculture last year, we aimed to contribute to the agriculture of Denizli and our country."
Speaking at the opening of the panel, PAU Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan said: "We are excited about agriculture. Because we are an agricultural country. However, agriculture is a difficult profession. As a university that has left 30 years behind, we aimed to contribute to the agriculture of Denizli and our country by opening our Faculty of Agriculture last year. We tried to see the areas related to agriculture in every country we visited. During a visit to Brazil, I had the opportunity to see an important project on digitalization in agriculture between a university there and the Ministry of Agriculture. An infrastructure is required for digitalization in agriculture. Hopefully, with the laws to be enacted in our country, agricultural activities will be realized in much larger areas. The Faculty of Agriculture of our university is located in Çivril district. We are recruiting faculty members to our faculty nowadays. Hopefully, we will open horticulture and field crops departments and start education and training. Çivril and Baklan plains are among the top five irrigable lands in our country. It is one of the most important aspects of our Faculty of Agriculture being located here."
Digitalization in agriculture is to take agricultural activities to the next level. For this reason, separate funds should be allocated for digitalization. Our participation in such a project as a University will be instrumental in opening new horizons in our country. Agriculture is a field that requires struggle with natural conditions and patient labor. In this respect, the use of digital technologies in agriculture is extremely important. I think we can get an answer to the question of how we can turn an effective, fertile soil into a product under the most ideal conditions with digitalization. Agriculture is a field that needs to be handled in all aspects, certain processes need to be applied just in time, requires discipline and dedication, and we are very happy that this field is being discussed at our University. I believe that digital technologies should be utilized in all areas from spraying to controlling weather conditions, from the detection of diseases to the quality of the product. I hope that this meeting will be beneficial in all terms."
On the second day of the two-day project meeting program, the delegation of international participants held the closing meeting of the program. After the meeting, the program ended with a cultural trip to Pamukkale Travertines.
