Today’s challenges met together
The fact that Turkish Alinda-grapes are now setting new standards is partly thanks to Bayer CropScience. For their high quality is attributable to the Food-Chain Partnership Initiative. “The idea behind the Food-Chain Partnership is to offer customized services and an optimized use of production tools to farmers, together with our partners in the food industry and the trade. In this way all partners benefit“, says Dr. Birgitt Walz-Tylla, Head of Food Chain Management at Bayer CropScience.
“Today’s farmer faces many challenges”, explains Walz-Tylla: “He must plan and carry out his cultivation work in a transparent way. He has to keep up with new cultivation technologies and practices. Moreover, he has to keep a careful eye on his target markets. Otherwise he could not keep his agronomic measures in line with changes to the law in these countries.” Bayer CropScience has acquired a good deal of expertise in all the necessary areas which it can pass on to farmers – from optimal cultivation methods to the controlled, environmentally-compatible use of crop protection agents, such that the legally-determined maximum residue limits are held to.

Considerable need for education
The Food-Chain Partnership Initiative has led to a significant improvement to the image of Turkish grapes. The principle: German fruit and vegetable retailer Kölla and its Turkish partner Çelikoglu lease areas of land from local Turkish farmers. They then cultivate grapes on them under the guidance of crop protection experts from Bayer CropScience. The agronomists and field workers are brought in by the Çelikoglu Company, which also provides a modern packing station and acts as exporter. Kölla is responsible for the advance financing, and coordinates the importing into target countries under the trademark Alinda. Kölla representative Gündüz Sadak: “In this way, we’re able to make sure that the treatment the product receives is entirely appropriate, from cultivation through to the customer.”
But it took some effort to reach this stage. Bayer CropScience’s first priority was to familiarize both the farmers and the exporters with the requirements of the German grocery trade. Most farmers had no idea how bad the reputation of locally-grown grapes was abroad. They also lacked knowledge of which crop protection agents are registered in Germany, and which are not.

Cultivation according to strict guidelines
Through consistent cooperation, the three partners have been able to establish a production system that really works. The appropriate treatment regime is selected for each plot within the framework of a crop protection plan in close coordination to the Bayer CropScience team in Turkey. It is especially tailored for export to Germany. About one week before harvest, Kölla-Personal collect samples from the field and send them to Germany for analysis. The corresponding crop is only given the go-ahead if the results conform to the customers’ requirements. Moreover, every grape that is sold can be traced back to the field it was grown on, because every plot is bar-coded.

The concept of Food-Chain Partnership Project is a clear winner. Turkish farmers who provide the land benefit, too. In fact, farmers with suitable land now are queuing up to take part in the project.