Prohibition of sunflower seeds on the road

Sunflower seed ban on the Ring Road: It has been announced that this year, farmers will not be allowed to dry their harvested sunflower seeds on the ring road in Bursa's İnegöl district.
In line with the decision taken by the District Traffic Commission in 2012, sunflower drying was prohibited on the ring road in order to prevent any accident, since sunflower seeds could not be dried under hygienic conditions on the Ahmet Türkel Ring Road and the road used by heavy vehicles. In 2013, the farmers started to give importance to sunflower seed production with the increase in the price of İnegöl sunflower, which received the patent of “İnegöl alas”. With the increase in sunflower seed production areas and yield this year, producers seeking alternative places to dry sunflower seeds applied to the district governorship to use the Ahmet Türkel Ring Road as a one-off drying area.
The farmers who visited District Governor Ali Akça together with Sezai Çelik, the President of the Chamber of Agriculture, stated that they wanted to use a strip of Ahmet Türkel Ring Road to dry sunflower seeds. Making a statement to the press after the closed meeting, District Governor Akça said, “It is not the district governorship or the municipality that will allow the drying process. Besides, any accident there has a responsibility. This is conscientiously and legally troublesome. There may be an accident there, blocking the transportation of vehicles or 112 ambulances and fire trucks. Road closure can only be due to repairs. It is not correct to close the roads just because the sunflower seeds will be dried. The responsibility of the roads belongs to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department, UKOME Branch Directorate. I hope some studies will be carried out next year. We will also support farmers, ”he said.