Turkey offers international training on combatting desertification

Saithan

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BY DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL TURKEY
SEP 18, 2020 1:57 PM GMT+3
Foreign trainees attend a training session by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 3, 2017. (AA Photo)
Foreign trainees attend a training session by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 3, 2017. (AA Photo)



Drawing from its experience combatting desertification and erosion, Turkey is helping other countries fight against land degradation.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli said Friday that 953 experts from 108 countries have been trained by Turkey for the prevention of desertification and erosion. Pakdemirli said in a written statement that more will be trained soon.

After the start of the coronavirus pandemic, these educational offerings shifted from field training to an online platform.
Home to various climates across its diverse terrain, Turkey is at high risk for desertification stemming from the onset of climate change and other factors such as misuse of agricultural land and harmful irrigation methods.

More than half of Turkey’s soil has the characteristics of arid, semiarid and semihumid climates. Turkey's central and southeastern regions, known for their vast flatlands and steep mountains, are particularly vulnerable to the risk of desertification. Erosion is another threat to Turkey, where the elevation of most land is far higher than countries in its immediate region or in European countries.


Turkey stepped up efforts to fight the desertification and a nationwide tree-planting campaign was launched last year. The “Breath for the Future” campaign inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saw the planting of more than 11 million saplings in one day. Pakdemirli said more than 4.6 billion saplings were planted in an area of 5.4 million hectares in the past 18 years since the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power.

“We also managed to decrease the loss of soil due to erosion to 140 million tons from 500 million tons since the 1970s and want to further decrease it to 130 million tons,” Pakdemirli added.

The country credits mass planting practices, anti-erosion infrastructure and new agricultural applications, especially to reduce excessive irrigation, with the prevention of land degradation.

Desertification threatens the planet, with implications for biodiversity, poverty levels, socioeconomic stability and sustainable development, according to the United Nations. The international body warns that some 50 million people may be displaced within the next decade as a result of desertification. Arable land degradation is estimated at 30-35 times the historical rate, according to the U.N. The world loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil yearly and the dry-land degradation reduces domestic national product in developing countries by up to 8% every year.

Source: https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/t...ertification/news?gallery_image=undefined#big

Shouldn't we use UAV or develop vehicles to make this planting process quicker ?
 

Saithan

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With the drone technology getting more and more attention I think it's equally important to focus on alternative and more good use of drone technology.

Luckily more people are aware of the awesome contribution of drones to our world than just killing.

Using drones to plant saplings/seeds is definitely something Turkey should invest heavily in. The domestic firm that manages to build these drones will definitely be used by the ministry.





A turk using the drone to spray fields, he should work more on the planting part :)
 

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Deforestation, desertification are very big problems. I hope very much that the right ministry gets their fingers out of their arses and invest in drone technology to mass plant trees.


2-3 mio trees should be planted on daily basis in right seasons.

 
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ekemenirtu

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Libya can be an important partner of Turkey in this regard.

More greenery and more agriculture can support a much bigger population in Libya.

Usually, that would allow more economic output, more potential recruits for your military, more potential researchers, more potential engineers and of course, more potential talents in a wide variety of other disciplines.

Of course, the potential has to be realized for it to mean anything substantial. Yet, the potential has to be created first. So much desert in North Africa and the Middle East. There is tremendous opportunity for Turkey to expand its geopolitical space in allied and partner countries like Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Pakistan and Qatar.
 

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Deforestation, desertification are very big problems. I hope very much that the right ministry gets their fingers out of their arses and invest in drone technology to mass plant trees.


2-3 mio trees should be planted on daily basis in right seasons.


You need to take care of those seeds and do it properly. I have been donating money to TEMA and they actually maintain their projects properly and still only 90% of the seedlings make it into trees. Those drone actions, I dont know how successfull they are.
 

Saithan

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You need to take care of those seeds and do it properly. I have been donating money to TEMA and they actually maintain their projects properly and still only 90% of the seedlings make it into trees. Those drone actions, I dont know how successfull they are.
I am trying to find out how much such a drone costs and the seeds being planted.

Even if 50% of the planted seeds by drone grow into tree it would be a tremendous step. I have read that aprox. 10.000 seeds can be planted a day with a single drone and drone operator.

But we have to start using it, and gain experience. There are people who have discovered worm fertilizer and utilized it into a business, but I doubt majority of our farmers in Turkey have the capacity to realize the same investment, or know how to use the worm fertilizer. (A man from Karaman has made youtube videos telling and showing how to use it, and damns how turks have the mindset of keeping things for themselves).

I read that Turkish farmers who borrowed money to buy tractor couldn't pay the loan, so they're stuck in a bad situation.

My point is that wrong use of land drains it from nutritions and that leads to desertification inevitable. I think we need to grab these new opportunities and start using it to see the results instead of trying to plant seedlings by hand only.

Drones with a planting container (pods) which consists of seed+fertilizer+water would probably giver higher chance of result.

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