This is digital transformation in agriculture!
In our era, information technology companies impact nearly every sector of the economy with their developed methods. Their innovations are rewriting the rules across industries, replacing traditional methods with more functional approaches. Despite many software companies being foreign-owned, there is a Turkish firm poised to change the game: Uzman Çiftçi. The company aims to boost the profitability of Turkish producers through its export-oriented systems while making transparent and healthy food more accessible to consumers. TRACEABLE AGRICULTURE! Serkan Ural Varol, a co-founder of Uzman Çiftçi, explained that their ERP software has been applied to agriculture. He detailed that the company's goal is to provide high-quality, accessible, and traceable agricultural products to consumers while helping Turkish producers enter international markets. Varol stated, "To achieve this, we need to ensure that farmers produce high-quality products and remove obstacles. We have been working on this system for three years and made our first export two months ago. The progress has been extremely rapid. With our system, we are sending Turkish products to Russia, Dubai, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Canada. We also signed an agreement with the United Nations (UN) and are running a project aimed at Africa." Varol noted that the system is open to all stakeholders in agriculture, from farmers to logistics companies and agricultural engineers to supermarkets. "Partners join the system and create their profiles. No one in the system is our employee. For instance, if you are a farmer, you upload pictures and videos of your fields and products. The system also records information on how and which brand of pesticides were used, and the conditions of fertilization. International markets can search for products within the system and view all Turkish producers providing that service. This way, buyers abroad can directly reach the company selling the product and view the producer's history." 30% HIGHER PROFITS While many services are provided free of charge to producers, farmers set their own product prices. Vural mentioned that the system also offers production planning services. "Neither we nor the importing company determine the price. The company can see the exit price of the product from the field and the costs of other inputs. The farmer can obtain services related to harvesting, laboratory work, and logistics through the system. We manage this process by providing production planning, creating work orders for tasks such as harvesting or packaging. If any firm responsible for these tasks does not perform their service on time, the system automatically assigns another firm. No payment is required from the farmer for these services; all costs are covered by the importing company. This way, intermediaries are eliminated, and the company gets the product it needs while managing the entire process. We only charge the importing company a fee for the system, not the producer or other stakeholders. Our system allows the producer to sell their product at a 30% higher price, while the importing company completes its import at a lower cost." PROJECTS TO REDUCE COSTS The company is also working on reducing costs and improving occupational health. Vural elaborated, "We developed a tractor project. Tractors are expensive but have low utilization. We are collaborating with an Italian company to offer tractor rentals to farmers through our system at no profit. We also provide eco-friendly bags that extend the freshness of products up to six times, reducing waste. We have a vest project where workers who will handle harvesting wear these vests, which help ensure their insurance and prevent excessive overtime and child labor. The vests are equipped with GPS and emergency buttons for quick health intervention. Additionally, we provide training with these vests to reduce the high waste rates during harvesting." Source: Ege Telgraf