DR. FATİH SEYİS: THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE PRODUCT TO TEA

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (RTEU) Dean of Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. Dr. Fatih Seyis said that some talk about developing alternative products to tea, but not any crop can be an alternative product to tea.

Seyis, in his written statement, expressed his satisfaction of the campaign named, "Hayde Çaya Bakalım" (Come on let's drink tea) initiated by ÇAYKUR Deputy Director Yusuf Ziya Alim and said that this is a formation of a new ownership  toward tea.

Seyis stated, "In the 1970s, 1 kilo of tea came to a worker's 3 daily wage. Since then about 1 million people with their families today farm on 835 thousand hectares, living on by tea producing."

Seyis, while dealing with agricultural issues, also noted, "We should be involved in understanding the producers. There is a lot of misinformation about fertilization. The amount of nitrogen that needs to be thrown into the tea is 15 kilograms per decare, but our producers can throw 200-300 kilograms of fertilizer with 60 percent of fertilizers containing 25 percent nitrogen. This is the active acidity and alkali (Ph) which is very important for soil. This means that our plants do not feed enough."

Seyis also mentioned the way of tea gathering and the problem of foreign workers and continued as follows:

"We say that the required form of tea collection is 2.5 leaves, but there are those who pick 5-6 leaves, those who throw double scissors. This is a very distressing and tea-damaging situation. However, there is the problem of foreign workers. Deep tea is collected. Thus, the length of the plant is shortened. This brings products that can grow up to 5-7 centimeters, which means that we apply pressure to our tea by collecting it from the bottom and from the bottom, so that the tea plant protects itself, shortens its height, and even escapes to the seed. I sincerely believe that you will revive our tea."