Şener Farm, Bafra
The Şener family wants to establish an eco-settlement on their 50+ decare land in the Kızılırmak delta in Samsun's Bafra district.
There are hopes of revitalizing the land where industrial agriculture has been carried out for many years and spreading the transformation to nature as an example for those who want to produce natural food in their environment as well as natural food production.
They also want to design an eco-campus where nature camps and various trainings will take place, taking into account the eco-tourism potential of the local area.
Project work started in January 2018. It is anticipated that all work up to the preliminary project design will be completed in the spring of 2018 and the first works on the campus will begin in the summer of 2018.
Why is this project important?
In the Permaculture Design Certificate Course, we talk about deltas as the most fertile natural habitats.
Deltas are large plains in areas where large rivers meet the sea, where the soil, organic matter and alluvium accumulated as the river flows rapidly from the high places where it originates. There is a deep topsoil layer - for example, while the topsoil layer depth in Belentepe Farm is approximately 30-40 cm, we observed that the topsoil layer continues to a depth of more than 2 meters in the inspection pit opened with a digger on the Şener Farm land in the Kızılırmak delta. The soil is very fertile. Since it is constantly fed by river water, the groundwater level approaches the upper soil level during the rainy seasons. Most of the time, there is no need for irrigation because the soil is constantly fed with water from below.
Throughout history, the first regions where human civilization sprouted and developed were always human settlements in the deltas - people noticed the abundance and abundance in the deltas, evaluated them and developed.
A wide variety of plants can be grown in the rich and wet soils of the deltas. Almost all kinds of greens, vegetables and fruits, but especially rice, are grown in the Kızılırmak Delta. Unfortunately, industrial agriculture is carried out in all farming regions of the delta. The soil has died due to chemical fertilizers and toxic drugs used for many years. In order to obtain productivity from the soil, it has become necessary to constantly apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides to the soil. However, local people engaged in industrial agriculture cannot make a living. Their products are not worth money. When the calculations are made at the end of the year, it is understood that not much income was generated.
The situation of the Kızılırmak delta, one of the most productive natural areas, is very sad. However, it is possible to obtain more valuable natural products by revitalizing the beautiful soil here and using natural production methods. Şener Farm will be a successful example for this type of work. Work to revitalize the land has already begun. An attempt is made to grow natural rice using the Fukuoka method on 1 decare of land.
Once its design is completed and its operation begins, it is aimed that the natural products of Şener Farm will support clean food networks.
The Kızılırmak delta is one of the largest deltas in the country and the only wetland on the Black Sea coast where some of its natural features have been preserved. Approximately 11,600 hectares of the delta, which has a total area of 56,000 hectares, consists of natural and semi-natural areas with wetland ecosystems and habitats associated with these systems. The combination of different living spaces (habitats) such as sea, river, lake, reeds, swamp, meadow, pasture, forest, dune and agricultural areas has enabled the delta to have a unique and important biological diversity.
Kızılırmak Delta has been an extremely important area for bird life for many years. 352 bird species have been observed in the area to date. This corresponds to approximately 76% of the birds of our country, where 465 bird species have been identified. This number is the highest number detected in an area to date.
In addition to hosting rare or endangered bird species, the delta is of great importance especially for bird species that directly cross the Black Sea during migration. It is the most important area in the south of the Black Sea, where birds that have exhausted almost all their energy while crossing the Black Sea in autumn can take shelter and recharge their energy to continue their long migration journeys. Likewise, it is the most important feeding and sheltering area for bird species that return north to their nesting areas during spring migrations, where they can rest and store energy before embarking on the difficult Black Sea journey.
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Considering the natural beauties nearby, it is possible that Şener Farm can also be a center for ecotourism. This will be taken into account in the eco-campus design.
You can follow the developments by visiting this page from time to time - we will publish the project developments here.
