THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE WILL BLOSSOM WITH SCIENCE

August 23, 2026 · Halil ETYEMEZ

I recently visited Dr. Mustafa Altuğ Atalay, the General Director of Agricultural Research and Policies. We had productive consultations on agricultural research, ongoing projects, and the agricultural policies our country will need in the future.

This meeting served as a reminder of a crucial reality: agriculture is no longer solely about plowing the soil, sowing seeds, and harvesting crops. Today, agriculture is a matter of science, technology, data, genetic resources, national security, and independence.

Just as a country cannot be dependent on others for its defense industry, it cannot remain dependent on foreign sources for seeds, fertilizers, vaccines, pesticides, and food technologies. This is because a nation that cannot ensure its food security cannot secure its future.

TAGEM, the Agricultural Research and Policy General Directorate, stands as one of Turkey's most significant scientific research centers in this domain.

Within TAGEM, 49 research institutions operate, and an additional 29 ministry organizations function with research authority. Approximately 6,900 personnel are employed across the central and research institutes. This structure conducts studies across a broad spectrum, from plant production to animal husbandry, plant and animal health to aquatic products, genetic resources to soil and water management, climate change to digital agriculture and artificial intelligence.

To date, thousands of projects aimed at increasing yield and quality have been completed, and over 2,000 plant varieties have been developed and registered. Significant expertise has been accumulated in the conservation of domestic animal breeds, strengthening gene banks, biological control, and the development of domestic vaccines, fertilizers, feed, and food technologies.

Furthermore, trials are conducted for inventions and machinery technologies that will reduce product losses during and after harvest. This is because delivering the product, cultivated with great effort, from the field to the table without loss is as important as increasing production. Reducing harvest losses means protecting the farmer's income, utilizing resources more efficiently, and strengthening our country's food supply security.

TAGEM also collaborates with universities, TÜBİTAK units, the private sector, cooperatives, and producer organizations, accepting project proposals and supporting eligible agricultural R&D activities. In doing so, it creates a vital platform for research and cooperation among the public sector, academia, private sector, and producers.

The accumulated knowledge and effort demonstrated are valuable. It is essential to acknowledge the work being done, appreciate the dedication of our researchers, and recognize the institutional capacity.

However, challenges such as climate change, drought, diminishing water resources, rising costs, diseases and pests, global supply crises, and the aging agricultural population necessitate the expansion and acceleration of ongoing efforts.

In the agriculture of the future, we will survive not by consuming more resources, but by generating more knowledge, technology, and yield.

TAGEM is currently conducting important research, supporting projects, and transferring its developed outcomes to production. In the new era, the focus must be on expanding the scope of these activities, increasing the speed of their implementation in the field, and enhancing their economic value.

With this understanding, the priorities for the new era should be clear:

Drought-resistant domestic seed development studies are underway; we must do more. We need to transform the development of varieties suited to the climate and soil conditions of each region, consuming less water, resistant to diseases, and high-yielding, into a national mobilization.
Research on water efficiency is being conducted; we must expand its application. Smart irrigation, sensor, and satellite technologies should be brought to more producers; we must measure production not only by the yield per decare but also by the yield obtained per unit of water used.
Domestic agricultural inputs are being developed; we must reduce external dependency more rapidly. We need to transform domestic production of fertilizers, animal vaccines, biological control agents, feed additives, and agricultural machinery into a strategic program.
Inventions and technologies to prevent harvest losses are being tested; we must popularize them. We should facilitate the access of proven machinery, methods, and technologies to farmers; we must measure and reduce harvest and post-harvest losses on a product-by-product basis.
Digital agriculture and artificial intelligence studies are being carried out; we must transition to an integrated system. We need to popularize national decision support systems that detect diseases early, predict drought and yield risks, and recommend the right practices to farmers at the right time.
Research results are being shared with producers; we must strengthen the capacity for field transfer. Through TAGEM Field Schools and demonstration areas, we must bring every developed variety, method, and technology to more producers.
Projects with universities, the private sector, and producer organizations are being supported; we must expand the impact-oriented support model. Project support should be directed towards our country's strategic needs; we must encourage partnerships that will carry research results to production and markets.
Scientific outputs are being converted into economic value; we must increase commercialization capacity. By strengthening patent, licensing, branding, and export processes, we must bring research results to production, employment, and exports more effectively.
Our researchers are being supported; we must protect qualified human resources more robustly. We need to improve career, incentive, and international work opportunities to ensure scientists remain within institutions; we must protect the research lands of institutes as a legacy for our future.

The TAGEM of the new era must be an integrated agricultural technology center that conducts research, supports research, transforms developed knowledge into products, commercializes them, and transfers the results to the farmer's field.

We must measure TAGEM's success not only by the number of projects and publications but also by the domestic varieties used, water saved, harvest losses prevented, imports reduced, production costs decreased, patents obtained, exports increased, and farmer income raised.

Humanity is at the center of our agricultural understanding. We cannot sustain production without protecting the soil, agriculture without protecting the producer, or independence without supporting science. We must bring together the farmer's sweat and the researcher's intellectual effort.

Turkey possesses fertile lands, rich genetic resources, a strong production culture, and a trained workforce. By uniting these resources around a common goal, we must become an agricultural nation that not only meets its own needs but also leads its region and the world with the seeds, technologies, and production models it develops.

TAGEM can be the scientific pioneer of this journey.

Because the future of agriculture cannot be left to chance. It must be planned, researched, and built with science.

We must collectively foster a new agricultural development movement that extends from seed to technology, from field to laboratory, from research to production.

We must appreciate what has been done, preserve the accumulated knowledge, and do more for Turkey's agricultural future.

A strong farmer means strong agriculture; strong agriculture means an independent Turkey.

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