SAKARYA, Turkey

From cultivation to harvest, primary school students in Turkey’s northwestern Marmara region are learning about farming from agricultural engineers thanks to grant support from the EU.

To forge stronger links to the soil for future generations, the Little Farmers Meet the Land Project started two years ago in Sakarya’s Bekir Sitki Durgun Primary School, with the support of the Provincial Education Directorate, Corn Research Institute, and Arifiye Municipality.

The project, which managed to get grant support from the EU in 2021, will continue for two years, and the teachers in the project will introduce their work with educational trips to project partners in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.

Teachers and students from these countries will also have the opportunity to come to Turkey and observe the project.

Cemal Yamak, the school’s principal, said the project is meant to direct the children to planting, harvesting, and production.

Ahmet Duman, a deputy director at the institute, said: “We aim to raise the agricultural engineers of the future with high quality and knowledge.”

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin