A New Era Begins on the Fertile Lands of “Akdeniz”

This overall success picture of our university gains even more meaning through the strategic connections we establish with sectors that define the character of our city and region. In this context, Antalya's world-renowned brand identity in tourism, as well as its strategic importance in agriculture, places a great responsibility on us. We bring together the fertile lands of this unique geography with science, offering academic guidance to our city through our Faculty of Agriculture, one of the strong faculties of our university. Most importantly, through our innovative practices, we are training well-equipped engineers who will shape the agriculture of the future. We conduct this process not only in classrooms but in full coordination with the sector. Through collaborations such as "Growtech @Campus," one of the sector's most important agricultural organizations, we connect our students with industry representatives even before graduation, directly opening doors to internships and career opportunities for them.

On the other hand, we are experiencing the joy of bringing to life the Antalya Agricultural Technocity (Antalya Tarım Teknokent), which is our major step that will take our goals in the field of agriculture to the next level. This project, which will be a turning point in Türkiye's agricultural vision, is a strategic initiative that combines Antalya's high agricultural potential with the scientific power of our university. We know that in Antalya, the leader in greenhouse agriculture in our country, we can no longer rely solely on traditional methods. We must produce "smart" solutions against global challenges such as sustainability, productivity, and climate change. The Agricultural Technocity, which we will build in the Aksu district on an area of approximately 1,100 decares by decision of our Presidency, will be a massive ecosystem where science, technology, and innovation intersect. Here, R&D studies will be conducted in many areas, from production systems focusing on water efficiency to smart greenhouse automation, from biotechnology and genetic improvement studies to agricultural robots, from artificial intelligence-based solutions to precision agriculture sensors. In short, the future of agriculture will be written here. I believe that by signing this great transformation together on behalf of our city, we will make Antalya the center of agricultural technologies.

We know that real development is possible through collective wisdom and strong collaborations. By joining hands with academia, the sector, and all our stakeholders, we will continue to carry both our university and our region to the bright future they deserve.

Through the collaboration between Akdeniz University Faculty of Agriculture and Growtech, the world's largest greenhouse agriculture fair, the Growtech@Campus event is organized every year. Thanks to this event, companies and our faculty students have the opportunity to meet face-to-face, obtaining opportunities in terms of both finding internship placements and employment. The Growtech@Campus event also helps students gain different and professional perspectives, become aware of their own competencies, look at their careers from a broader perspective, learn about job application processes, gain experience in interview management, get to know companies in the sector closely, and make informed career decisions. A large number of agricultural companies are expected to participate in the fourth edition of the event, which will be held on April 17, 2026. 103 agricultural companies participated in the third edition of the Growtech@Campus event.