In the district of Silifke in Mersin, southern Türkiye, a group of villagers have established a lavender garden with the support of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, selling their products via a cooperative to provide scholarships to students and contribute to local schools.
The story of cooperative lavender cultivation in the village of Çaltıbozkır, with a population of about 2,000, began in 2018 when retired teacher Mehmet Asım Özçalık returned to his village with the motto "There is no retirement from teaching" and founded the Çaltıbozkır Association. Other members, including journalists and housewives, joined meetings where they decided to attend lavender cultivation courses. They applied to Mersin Metropolitan Municipality for lavender seedlings and were granted 5,000 as a donation, which led to successful crops.
Hatice Gülcan Yüksel, president of the Çaltıbozkır Production and Marketing Cooperative, noted that they produce 11 types of essential oils. Following the support of the distillation unit by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Yüksel highlighted that sales and marketing opportunities have increased further.
"We produce 11 types of oil in our facility. From the lavender oil we obtain, we make soap, scrub mitts, cologne, candles, Turkish delight and room sprays. We provide scholarships to students studying at universities with part of our income, and we have renovated our old schools."
Yüksel continued: "We converted one into a museum and another into a library. We have six more schools to renovate. We want all villagers to participate in production, especially women, to assist us in the production and labeling stages."
"We initially thought of this as alternative agriculture. It's very clean agriculture. It requires little water and maintenance. It has a beautiful appearance and is very good for tourism. Lavender gardens attract many domestic and foreign tourists who want to see them. Russians, in particular, promote our region," she added.
Visitor Ayşegül Şengi, who came to visit the lavender garden, said: "We were always curious about lavender gardens. We never had a chance to go to Isparta. It made us happy to find such a beautiful place in Silifke. We learned about the benefits of lavender and bought products. It's a wonderful thing for such a small place like Silifke to have this."
Mücahit Özel, who visited the lavender garden with his wife and child, said: "We felt like we were in Isparta. It creates a beautiful atmosphere to have such a place in Silifke. As soon as we entered the garden, a beautiful scent emerged. I came here to explore it with my wife and child. We encourage everyone to visit."
