BSCD Türkiye Water Risks Project

The "Water Risks Project" in Turkey that Ülker Biscuits as its primary sponsor - aims to assess how climate change will affect the nation's water resources and create efficient irrigation plans for agriculture -. The project's main objective is to promote the use of drip irrigation systems, one of pressurized irrigation methods, in wheat and corn farming in the Inner Anatolia Region. This shift is expected to enhance water and energy efficiency, determine water-productivity interactions, evaluate the physical and economic aspects of water efficiency, identify water-related risks, and disseminate appropriate practices to local farmers through various activities.

Within the scope of the project, which involves the participation of Ankara University's Water Management Institute, drip irrigation systems were implemented on 40 acres for wheat cultivation, 33 acres for silage corn, and 18 acres for grain corn in Kırıkkale. A comparison was made between the productivity of these crops using traditional irrigation methods on equally sized plots. The analysis included assessing the water footprint of wheat and corn production. The initial phase of the SKD Turkey Water Risks Project, conducted in the Inner Anatolia Region, demonstrated that adopting drip irrigation in wheat cultivation can result in a minimum of 30% water savings and a minimum of 20% increase in crop yield.