Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Started Lavender Harvest

The harvest of lavender grown by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality to encourage the production of high value-added medicinal and aromatic plants has begun.

The “Medical and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Project” (TABİP), which was implemented by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality to increase the income level of farmers who are encouraged to grow high value-added products and to support agricultural development, has initially planted 5 million medicinal and aromatic plants in an area of ​​approximately 1,140 acres throughout the province. The first harvest of the lavenders grown within this scope has begun. TABİP, which is one of the most important rural development initiatives of Kocaeli and to which Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın attaches great importance, provides support to growers of rosemary, medicinal mint, lavender and lemon balm with high added value. The project, which also aims to stop rural-urban migration and encourage urban-rural return, also provides employment for female farmers.

“Volatile oils with high economic value are obtained from lavender flowers”

The harvest of lavender flowers planted in İbrahim Turan’s 13-acre field in the Tahtalı Neighborhood of Derince district is carried out by female personnel employed by the metropolitan municipality and also by a trailer-loaded aromatic plant harvesting machine, the design and production of which is entirely national and locally produced by the metropolitan municipality. High-value essential oils are obtained from the harvested lavender flowers at the metropolitan municipality’s Extraction and Distillation Center. These oils are used in cosmetics, cleaning materials, pharmaceuticals and food supplements. Lavender flower, which is also used in aromatherapy applications with its pain-relieving, calming and insomnia-relieving properties, is also consumed as tea.

Planted areas are insured

Under the supervision of the Metropolitan Municipality Sekapark AŞ, all agricultural activities, certification processes of farmers, trainings and field applications are being monitored in accordance with international standards in line with organic plant certification for 5 production years. Annual plant product insurance policies of the lands where seedlings are planted are covered by Sekapark AŞ. In line with the project, metropolitan agricultural engineers and Sekapark AŞ technical team provide the necessary controls in the fields where planting will be done, and also provide consultancy services to farmers on technical issues. The project offers farmers a purchase guarantee.

“Lavender and rosemary are more profitable products”

Producer İbrahim Turan from Derince, whose field is harvesting lavender, said that he participated in the Metropolitan Municipality’s TABİP project and grew lavender on a 13-acre field and rosemary on a 22-acre field, and that they obtained the best crop of this year. Expressing that he was pleased to be growing medicinal and aromatic plants, Turan said, “We were previously planting barley, wheat, and corn. I met the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Project with the contributions of the metropolitan municipality. Lavender and rosemary are more profitable products. Moreover, they have a purchase guarantee. We can sell our products without incurring losses and profitably. Products with high added value have adapted to our region. I recommend it to producers. These products should be grown more. I want these supports to increase. I would like to thank Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın for the support he has given.” – KOCAELİ