Aliağa Biscuit Wheat met with Ülker products

Aliağa Biscuit Wheat, developed as a result of the work carried out by Ülker, Türkiye's leading food company, with the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute since 2007, met with Ülker products. Ülker aims to secure its raw material supply for many years by continuing its efforts to develop new wheat seeds in the upcoming period.

A new phase has been entered in the "Aliağa Biscuit Wheat" project, which Ülker, Türkiye's leading food company, started in 2007 with the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute in order to develop a wheat type suitable for biscuit flour production for the sustainable supply of raw materials.

The wheat that was planted last year on 80 thousand decares of land in ten cities, including Ankara, Konya, Çankırı, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Yozgat, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Tekirdağ and Çorum, was gathered in Ülker Ankara Flour Factory after the harvest this year. Wheats were prepared to be included in the recipes of Ülker's products such as Pötibör, Halley, Çizi, Çubuk Kraker, Dokuz Kat Tat, O'lala and Dankek. As of October for the first time, products containing Aliağa Biscuit Wheat began to take their place on the shelves.

Sustainable agricultural practices are very important

Pointing out that environmental problem such as climate change and the accompanying water stress put pressure on global food systems, Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan said, “Therefore, it is of great importance to promote sustainable agriculture practices that are resistant to climate change.”

Buyurgan conveyed the following information about the Aliağa Biscuit Wheat Project, which is of great importance to support domestic production and sustainable raw material supply: “Wheat is one of our most important raw materials. We buy an average of 280 thousand tons of wheat annually. In order to develop the ideal wheat variety for sustainable raw material supply and high quality production, we continue our seed dissemination efforts in the Aliağa Biscuit Wheat project, which we realized in cooperation with the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute in 2007 and whose first harvest was carried out in 2020. At the end of this year's harvest, we are experiencing the excitement and happiness of meeting our wheat with our products for the first time. In the new sowing period, which we are approaching the end of our wheat is planted on an area of approximately 120 thousand decares in Ankara, Konya, Çankırı, Kırıkkale, Yozgat, Çorum, Eskişehir, Kayseri and Kırşehir cities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues, especially Ali Çelik, the former General Manager of Ülker Ankara Flour Factory, who took the first step in the realization of the project 15 years ago, and all of our colleagues who contributed to the project, the Director of Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute Fatih Özdemir and his team.”

Less water in production, higher yield in the product

Expressing that they are happy to bring high quality, productive, local and national Aliağa Biscuit Wheat to the sector, which is resistant to climate change, disease and drought, Buyurgan made the following assessment about the benefits of wheat:

“According to the existing wheat species, it provides a yield of 17-20% per decare in wetland and 35-40% in arid land, above the average. In this way, farmers are expected to experience a minimum 20% increase in income. Another advantage of Aliağa Biscuit Wheat being more productive than existing wheat varieties in arid lands is that it needs less water. Production will be secured with a biscuit wheat type at high quality standards. In addition, our farmers say that the productivity of Aliağa Biscuit Wheat makes them extremely happy. The high-quality straw of wheat can also be used in animal husbandry.”

Work continues to develop new wheat varieties

In addition, Buyurgan reminded that they implemented the "Biscuit Wheat Development Program" with the Institute in order to obtain new biscuit wheat varieties, “Thanks to the new varieties we will develop within the scope of this program, we will offer our farmers the opportunity to choose among productive and high quality seed varieties suitable for the climate and soil structure of the region they live in. Thus, the continuity of production of biscuit wheat in a wider geography with high efficiency and quality will be ensured.

Aliağa was chosen from among tens of thousands of different species.

Noting that the private sector-public cooperation is very important, Dr. Fatih Özdemir, Director of Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute, which is located under the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that the results obtained in the Aliağa Biscuit Wheat project, which was implemented together with Ülker, are extremely promising for the future.

Özdemir conveyed the following information: “The great effort and time in the long development process of Aliağa Biscuit Wheat has contributed to the formation of our country's domestic and national biscuit wheat today. The fact that this wheat is a type developed completely for biscuits and improved in terms of breeding, for the first time, is a major system change in Türkiye in industrial terms. Aliağa wheat was developed by selecting from tens of thousands of candidates with thousands of observations and analyzes. In 2014, it was presented to the Seed Registration and Certification Center within the body of our Ministry. It was approved by independent tests and registered under the name Aliağa in 2017. Aliağa Biscuit Wheat stands out with its high yield, resistance to drought and diseases, and biscuit-specific quality. Between 2017 and 2019, seed production activities were carried out in the planting areas of our Institute for the spread of wheat. Since 2019, the process continues with Ülker's seed production efforts."