DÜZCE (IHA) – The blueberry garden established by a university student in Düzce in search of an alternative product to hazelnuts attracts attention from citizens during the harvest period. Visitors collect fruits grown with good agricultural practices from their branches into their own baskets and spend time in touch with nature by taking photos in the garden.

Bilal Köse, a student of Düzce University Faculty of Theology, who bought land with his family in Musababa village of the center, conducted research to find an alternative to hazelnuts, the main agricultural product of the region. Köse, who decided to produce blueberries in 2022 with the advice of experts, started to get intense productivity from the products he planted with good agricultural practices at the end of the 3rd year.

With the start of the harvest season, the young farmer opens the garden to visitors and offers citizens the opportunity to pick their own fruits. Visitors to the garden, which also contributes to rural tourism, spend time taking photos in the garden while picking blueberries from the branches.

"We stand by our young people who practice good agricultural practices"

In her statement during her visit to the garden, Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Esra Uzun stated that they support young farmers within the scope of the project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to disseminate good agricultural practices. Emphasizing that the products produced in the region reach consumers directly through rural tourism, Uzun said, "Our brother Bilal is one of the producers who benefit from the project. The products produced here reach consumers through rural tourism. As the Ministry and Provincial Directorate, we support our young farmers like Bilal. Our farmers who practice good agriculture, have agricultural insurance, use modern irrigation systems and fight against diseases with biotechnical methods are very valuable to us. As the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, we are always with them and will continue to be with them."

"We offer harvest experience to visitors"

Producer Bilal Köse said that they produce completely natural products without using chemicals. Stating that they were pleased with the interest shown by the visitors to the garden, Köse said:

"Our harvest activities continue from 09:00 in the morning until dark. We bought this land in 2022. While wondering what we could produce as an alternative to hazelnuts, we met our teacher Emrah Çiçek at Düzce University. Then we decided to produce blueberries. This year is our 3rd year. Our first strong harvest year. We will get full yield next year. We produce with good agricultural practices with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and our Provincial Directorate. We produce naturally, without using any pesticides. "We produce and produce organic products. Recently, blueberries have become a popular fruit. People like to pick their own baskets. They now see 100-gram packages of fruit on 20 decares of land. This has turned into a photography craze."

Gözde Yıldız, who visited the garden, stated that they organized an event as an association and said, "Picking blueberries from their branches was a different pleasure. We both had a lot of fun and relieved stress. We also had the opportunity to take beautiful photos while picking." - DUZCE