‘Sorgul’, which is known as the oldest Mesopotamian wheat, met the soil in Mardin. Seeds will be derived in the first year and after that the production will be expanded throughout the province.

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the foundation called Hayatım Yenibahar Ekonomik Kalkınmayı ve Sosyal Gelişimi Destekleme Derneği, have started the project named “From soil to plate; living soil, local seed” in Mardin. The AK Party deputy, Ceyda Bölünmez Çankırı and the women working within the project gave a start in Artuklu county by symbolically sprinkling the seeds of ‘sorgul’, one of the oldest wheats of the region. Ebru Baybara, president of the foundation, said that sorgul, the oldest ancestry durum wheat of Mesopotamia, will be produced as a seed being planted in Mardin Plain with good agricultural practices and traditional techniques. “In the first year seeds will be replicated and good agricultural practices training will be given. The first harvest will be in June. Mesopotamia is known as the motherland of wheat and Sorgul is grown in Mesopotamian Plain and is the oldest known wheat species. Sorgul is a girl name in Kurdish meaning red rose. Its name comes from the color which is reflecting amber red. Its grain structure is reddish-yellow. It has a magnificent fragrance and aroma,” she said.