FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF FIELD CROPS

Field crops constitute one of the most vital plant production sources of agriculture. Agriculture itself represents the production of primary organic metabolites—such as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals essential for human and animal nutrition—as well as secondary metabolites like alkaloids, terpenoids, and phenolics, by utilizing natural resources including sunlight, soil, air, and water. Field crops are indispensable commodities that comprehensively meet humankind's fundamental needs such as nutrition, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment. Generally characterized by a herbaceous structure, field crops are primarily annuals, though they can occasionally include shrubby or woody perennial cultivated plants.

Field crops are categorized into four main groups: cereals, grain legumes, industrial crops, and forage crops. Additionally, natural and artificial meadow and pasture plants used in animal feeding are also classified under field crops. As is the case worldwide, field crops hold a distinctive importance in Turkey for direct agriculture and the development of agro-industries:

Cereals such as wheat, maize, rice, and millets serve as the foundation for the flour, starch, pasta, and bioethanol industries.  Legumes like chickpeas, lentils, dry beans, peas, faba beans, and cowpeas drive the pulses and canning industries.  Tuber crops including potatoes, sweet potatoes, and Jerusalem artichokes support the starch, potato chips, and alcohol industries.  Sugar crops like sugar beet and sugarcane supply the sugar, confectionery, alcohol, and bioethanol industries.  Fiber crops such as cotton, flax, and hemp cater to the yarn, textile, and garment industries.  Oilseed crops including sunflower, canola, soybean, peanut, safflower, and cotton feed the vegetable oil, oil cake (meal), and biodiesel industries.  Barley, anise, and hops form the basis of the malt, beer, raki, and alcoholic beverage industries ; while tobacco drives the cigarette and tobacco products industry.  Sesame and soapwort supply the tahini and halva industries ; whereas opium poppy serves the alkaloid (morphine and its derivatives) and pharmaceutical industries.  Aromatic plants such as oil rose, thyme, laurel, and lavender are utilized in the essential oil and perfume industries.  Medicinal, herbal tea, and spice crops—including tea, sage, mountain tea, echinacea, yarrow, stinging nettle, thyme, rosemary, caper, mint, basil, lemon balm, cumin, fennel, coriander, black cumin, fenugreek, saffron, mustard, galangal, sumac, rosehip, and red pepper—provide raw materials for pharmaceuticals, herbal teas, and spices.  Dye plants like madder, dyer's buckthorn, woad, weld, alkanet, dyer's chamomile, and galls serve the natural dye industry.  Legume and grass forage crops—such as vetch, alfalfa, sainfoin, clover, grass pea, forage pea, bitter vetch, maize, sorghum, sudangrass, bromegrasses, fescues, wheatgrasses, ryegrasses, timothy grass, and Kentucky bluegrass—directly support the feed industry, while other field crops contribute to it indirectly.  Meadows and pastures hold immense significance as natural resources that satisfy the roughage requirements of livestock, particularly for meat and dairy production. 

At the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, research is conducted not only to solve cultivation problems encountered in economically significant field crops within the Western Mediterranean Region, but also to introduce potential new field crops to our regional agriculture. Priority is given to basic and applied research focusing on the ecology, physiology, genetics, breeding, and agronomy of field crops, with the findings actively contributed to global scientific literature.  Our department consists of three major sub-departments: "Cereals and Grain Legumes", "Industrial Crops", and "Meadow-Pasture and Forage Crops". Graduates at the undergraduate level are awarded the title of "Agricultural Engineer". Students who fulfill the necessary requirements can pursue postgraduate education and graduate from the Department of Field Crops with a "Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering" or a "Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering" degree.  Three-quarters of the ISUBÜ Agricultural Research and Application Farm is dedicated to field crops cultivation. This land houses the research and application annex building belonging to the Department of Field Crops, alongside numerous research and application greenhouses. Furthermore, students benefit fully from the campus-based facilities provided by the Faculty of Agriculture, including female and male student dormitories, a cultural center, a central library, an olympic swimming pool, a sports complex, a research and application hospital, polyclinics, central classrooms, and an open-air amphitheater.  Considering the continuous rise in demand for plant and animal products driven by population and income growth globally and in Turkey, as well as the emergence of new agricultural practices, the profession of Agricultural Engineering is projected to gain ever-increasing significance, with the demand for professionals in this field rising each passing year. Graduates from our department can be employed in various units under the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (such as the General Directorate of Plant Production, General Directorate of Agricultural Reform, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations, Provincial and District Directorates of Agriculture, Research Institutes, Production Stations, Agricultural Quarantine Directorates, Customs Control Directorate, Turkish Grain Board, General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises, General Directorate of Tea Enterprises, and Agricultural Credit Cooperatives of Turkey).  They can also be employed in institutions affiliated with the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye and other relevant Ministries (such as the GAP Regional Development Administration, Eastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration, State Institute of Statistics, General Directorate of Rural Services, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, TÜBİTAK, and the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority). Beyond public institutions, extensive employment opportunities exist in private sector organizations engaged in agricultural activities (including seed production, seedling production, sapling production, greenhouse cultivation, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, feed, flour, sugar, oil, textiles, herbal medicines, and spices). Additionally, graduates can work in fields such as agricultural consultancy, responsible management, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural markets, municipalities, banks, agricultural lending and insurance, expert witnessing, project design, and turfgrass establishment. There is also a broad potential for entrepreneurship, allowing graduates to establish their own businesses or consulting offices.

ESTABLISHMENT, DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING

The Department of Field Crops was established within the Faculty of Agriculture at Süleyman Demirel University by the decision of the Council of Higher Education dated July 6, 1995, and numbered 13054. It began admitting students in the 1999–2000 academic year. Having produced its first graduates in the 2002–2003 academic year, the Department of Field Crops continued its educational activities under the same faculty until 2018.  Pursuant to Article 7 of the "Law on Amending the Higher Education Law and Certain Laws and Decree-Laws," published in the Official Gazette dated May 18, 2018, and numbered 30425, Süleyman Demirel University was divided, and a new university was established under the name of Isparta University of Applied Sciences. The Faculty of Agriculture was initially renamed the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies and was integrated into this newly established university. According to the "Decision on the Establishment, Closure, and Name Changes of Institutes, Faculties, and Higher Education Schools Affiliated to Certain Higher Education Institutions (Decision Number: 1613)," published in the Official Gazette dated October 4, 2019, and numbered 30908, the name of the faculty was changed back to the Faculty of Agriculture.  The Department of Field Crops currently continues its educational and research activities within this faculty. The department's academic staff comprises a total of 17 members, including 11 Professors, 1 Associate Professor, 3 Assistant Professors, and 2 Research Assistants. The administrative staff includes 1 permanent Computer Operator position. As of the 2024–2025 academic year, the department has an active enrollment of 127 undergraduate students, 28 master's students, and 14 doctoral students. (https://obs.isparta.edu.tr/Public/AnalizMezunLisans.aspx).

OUR MISSION

Guided by the premise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, that "Agriculture is the foundation of the national economy," our mission as the Department of Field Crops is to enable sustainable agricultural practices and the production of sufficient and safe food by utilizing natural resources like sunlight, air, soil, and water through the most rational and prudent methods. In the light of contemporary scientific and technological advancements, we aim to train agricultural engineers who are well-equipped with knowledge and practical skills, capable of contributing to the agricultural development of our region and country, possessed of rapid and independent decision-making capabilities, self-confident, dedicated to their profession, and respectful of environmental, social, and ethical values.  Furthermore, our core duties encompass equipping students with internationally recognized competencies in agricultural education, and providing an updated, practical curriculum throughout their undergraduate studies. We aim to raise distinguished agricultural engineers and scientists dedicated to addressing and solving challenges in sustainable cultivation techniques of strategic crops, variety development, industrial applications in agriculture, agricultural marketing, the development of climate-resilient crop varieties, and the expansion of eco-friendly farming practices, thereby contributing to global food security

OUR VISION

Embracing the principle of "always towards the best and the forward," our vision is to become a leading academic department that continuously updates the knowledge and skills required by contemporary education in alignment with scientific and technological developments. We aspire to nurture research-oriented, solution-focused, and globally qualified individuals capable of addressing challenges in agriculture and agro-industries. By adopting sustainable and innovative agricultural practices, we aim to pioneer advancements in climate change mitigation and food security, contributing universally to scientific progress in field crops. Our goal is to train Agricultural Engineers who can serve as role models for producers by implementing smart, precision agricultural technologies that are practical, high-yielding, efficient, and economically viable. 

OUR CORE OBJECTIVES 

The paramount goals and core objectives of the Department of Field Crops are to educate agricultural engineers and scientists who possess the qualifications demanded by public institutions and the private sector, display advanced scientific and analytical thinking skills, and embrace a commitment to lifelong learning. We are dedicated to executing research aimed at solving field cultivation problems, enhancing yield and quality through modern agronomic techniques, and developing superior new varieties resilient to climate change using both conventional and biotechnological breeding methods. Furthermore, safeguarding and enriching biodiversity and genetic resources through a sustainable production approach remains central to our mission.  Within this scope, our fundamental values are anchored in the guidance of science, innovation and entrepreneurship, participation and knowledge sharing, lifelong learning, respect for achievement and labor, adherence to universal ethical and moral values, as well as social, cultural, environmental, and artistic sensitivity.