A man works in a greenhouse for planting tomatoes in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, on Jan. 18, 2024. Geothermal energy is a crucial factor in boosting agricultural production in Turkey, which has a high concentration of geothermal resources, according to experts. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) — Hakan Kozan, CEO of Kozan Agriculture, a producer from Afyonkarahisar, a province 250 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara, highlighted the importance of geothermal resources for greenhouse agriculture. He stated, “If it weren’t for geothermal resources, we wouldn’t be doing greenhouse agriculture here. This is a natural blessing.”
Kozan’s farmland is located in the Sandikli district of Afyonkarahisar, an area well-known for its geothermal resources and hot springs, where even bus stops are heated with abundant thermal water.
“We produce natural cluster tomatoes and cucumbers on 130,000 square meters of greenhouses and export our produce to 18 countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Qatar,” Kozan told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Geothermal energy has been identified as a significant driver of agricultural production in Turkey, with the country being one of the most abundant in geothermal resources in Europe, experts said.
