The opening ceremony of the Second International Molecular Plant Protection Congress (IMPPC2023) organized in Türkiye’s northwestern Bursa province at Hektaş Agricultural Innovation, Training and Experience Center took place Tuesday.
The event, organized by Ankara University, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Hektaş Ticaret A.Ş., will run from May 15 to May 18. It will feature 81 renowned scientists from 20 countries who will discuss the future of sustainable agriculture.
The opening speech of IMPPC2023 was given by M. Levent Ortakçıer, the president and chairperson of the board of Hektaş, a company within the Oyak Group. Professor Craig Mello from the University of Massachusetts, a Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) delivered the opening lecture at the congress.
Meanwhile, Professor Umut Toprak, a lecturer from Ankara University’s Faculty of Agriculture Department of Plant Protection, chaired the organizing committee of the congress. In his speech during the event’s opening ceremony in Bursa’s Orhangazi district, he highlighted the shift in plant protection strategies from classical approaches to innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly molecular strategies. He also emphasized the importance of the scientific knowledge shared during the congress as a valuable resource for the literature.
In his opening speech, Ortakçıer stated that according to the latest agricultural outlook report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it is predicted that food consumption will increase by 1.4% in the next 10 years due to population growth, while food production will be at the level of 1.1%.
“The world population is expected to reach 9.1 billion in 2050. If effective measures are not taken, the difference between food production and consumption in the world will grow to the depredation of humanity,” he said.
Elaborating on the arable land areas, Ortakçıer also pointed out that 1.5 billion hectares of land used for cultivation are expected to drop to some 1.3 billion in the upcoming years, highlighting the need to develop scientific and sustainable solutions. “Sustainable projects are essential to protect nature ... we must protect the quality of the land. Therefore, we should focus on biological studies. We will share the results of this congress with all our stakeholders,” he explained.
Nobel Prize-winning professor Melo said he was honored and grateful for attending such an event in Türkiye. Thanking the hosts of the organization and all the participants, he noted that there had been exciting, essential developments that would open new horizons in agriculture, especially in plant protection.
Saying, “More efficient agriculture is possible,” Mello emphasized that the International Molecular Plant Protection Congress is one of the most important platforms to introduce these developments to agricultural stakeholders. Expressing that the participants need to experience HEKTAŞ’s Agricultural Innovation, Training and Experience Center (F.A.R.M.), Mello added that he wholeheartedly believes that the center will become one of the world’s leading institutions in agricultural technologies.
Professor Toprak, additionally in his interview with Ihlas News Agency (IHA), touched on the concept of agriculture of the future, stating that “sustainable agriculture,” based on the fundamental principle “Leave it as you found it,” is a basic concept in the present day. Explaining that we are faced with problems such as harmful insects and diseases, which especially restrict plant production and lead to the usage of various chemicals and pesticides to combat them, Toprak highlighted that new plant protection strategies need to be implemented to increase people’s awareness about environmental health and requirement for safe food.
