With the support of Mugla Metropolitan Municipality, flowers produced by women growers continue to color Mugla and its neighboring provinces. Flower production, which started with 3 greenhouses and increased to 30 today, continues to be an important source of income for the people of the region.
Zuhre Aybars, one of the first female producers of flower production in Koycegiz Beyobasi, said that growing flowers contributed a lot to them economically and socially and said that seeing the flowers they produce on the streets of Mugla is another source of happiness. Zuhre Aybars said, “We started to produce flowers with 3 greenhouses, and I am one of the first growers. We love to deal with flowers. We are happy to see the flowers we plant and grow with a lot of effort to be enjoyed on the streets by the residents of the city. If I got another job, it would be difficult to commute for 8 hours, but with flower production, I produce my flowers in the greenhouse in front of my house. The earnings are also very good.”
Saban Cetin, President of Koycegiz Beyobasi Agricultural Development Cooperative, which started to grow flowers with a purchase guarantee in 2015 from the Metropolitan Municipality, said that their goal is to catch the province of Bayindir, which is the number one in flower production, and the biggest support for them has come from Mugla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Osman Gurun. Saban Cetin said, “The Beyobasi Cooperative was established in 1995. We were originally doing forestry products production and sales. Today we have 220 growers in our cooperative. In 2015, with the encouragement and support of our Metropolitan Mayor, we entered the flower production business with a purchase guarantee from the municipality. We started with 3 greenhouses. In the first year, we have grown 1.6 million seasonal flowers. Then we started potted plants and coniferous perennial species. We produce approximately 2.5 million flowers annually. 80% of our producers are women. The participation of women in production and their efforts are very valuable to us. Our aim is to bring flowers all over Mugla. Reaching the production level of the province of Bayindir, the center for floricultural production in the region, is one of our main goals. The municipality’s purchase guarantee was an important driving force in setting up this production area and it solved any marketing and sales concerns our growers might have before making investments to build their greenhouses. Our growers can focus solely on production and quality without having to worry about the demand; we have reached these days with the support of our mayor and his team, who have encouraged us from the very beginning and put special emphasis on cooperatives.”
With the production of ornamental plants and seasonal flowers with a purchase guarantee, which was implemented in cooperation with the Metropolitan and Koycegiz Beyobasi Agricultural Development Cooperative to support female producers, the number of women producing increased from 6 to 60. The flowers produced in Mugla with the labor of women are not adorned only in Mugla but also in different cities. Flowers produced by Mugla are sent to Isparta, Afyon, Aydin, Denizli, Antalya, and Burdur district municipalities. Approximately 25 million flowers have been produced since 2015.
Source: Son Dakika
