Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, which is a pilot university in the field of "Agriculture and Geothermal", continues its cooperation with public institutions and the private sector intensively with the projects it carries out. Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya visited the R&D greenhouse area on 17 February 2022 to examine the work on-site, with Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kazankaya, and Project Coordinator Assoc. Prof Dr. Hakan Başak.
KAEU is Working on "Light Clay Aggregate and Perlite", which can be an alternative to imported cocopeat in soilless agriculture and can last 10 years longer.
Providing information about the work done in the R&D Greenhouse, Project Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Başak stated that an R&D study that can be an example for the cooperation of public, private sector, and university in R&D greenhouses has been carried out to develop a domestic growing environment which would be an alternative to the cocopeat, which is an imported product and the most widely used plant growing medium in soilless agriculture. Providing technical information about the cocopeat, Başak said that the unit price of the cocopeat has reached 2.5 dollars/slab, and its ideal usage duration is one year and can be used for two years at most. Başak explained that the expanded light clay aggregate used in the R&D study is a product obtained by heating and compressing it at 1200˚C, it is resistant to disinfection and can be used in soilless agriculture for 10 years without incident. Başak said that while perlite can be used by disinfecting for 3-5 years on average and it is much more durable than cocopeat.
Rector Karakaya: “Imported Product Cocopeat is 2.5 Dollars and it is Usable Two Years at the Most, Light Clay Aggregate is 1.5 Dollars and It can be Used up to 10 Years”
Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, who made evaluations, stated that the point they have reached is the product of teamwork. Karakaya stated that they aimed to produce and develop technology with domestic and national inputs that would reduce foreign dependency in the field of greenhouse cultivation with the public institutions and private sector companies they cooperate with. He stated that by this means, they would reach the goal of contributing to regional development by increasing the yield and quality of greenhouse cultivation. Reminding that the unit price of the cocopeat, which is used as a plant growing medium in soilless agriculture, is around 2.5 dollars, Karakaya informed that the unit price of these products, which can be obtained with domestic means, is below 1.5 dollars and that light clay aggregate lasts up to 10 years and perlite up to 5 years.
Rector Karakaya: "Testing of First Harvest Products in Greenhouses will Continue Until Summer 2022"
Rector Karakaya, who pointed out that KAEU signed a cooperation protocol with the leading companies of our country to carry out joint R&D studies, said that Turkiye Şeker Factories Inc. Co. (TÜRKŞEKER), Söğüt Toprak and Madencilik Inc. Co., which produces expanded light clay aggregate, and perlite producer Agropas (Agroperlite) are some of them. Karakaya stated that in R&D studies, the effect of expanded light clay aggregate with different particle sizes and 30 different mixing ratios of perlite on the yield and quality of tomato plants was investigated by comparing them with the cocopeat. Reminding that the harvest of the first clusters would be soon in the R&D study, which started in October 2021, Karakaya explained that the testing would continue until the end of the summer of 2022. Karakaya concluded his speech by saying that, during the R&D study, the yield obtained from the growing environments, product quality, the development status of the plants would be followed up with the measurements and analyzes, and at the end of the testing, the most suitable mixture ratio that could be an alternative to the cocopeat would be determined.
