Meltem Gözel starts every day at 07:00 in the morning. Gözel takes care of the mushrooms in their greenhouses before the sun comes up. As part of the morning checks, he closely monitors the growth of his mushrooms and points out that the most important factor in mushroom cultivation is temperature.
Gözel says “ mushrooms are like babies ”, “ someone has a fever, someone has a cold ” and constantly monitors and adjusts the temperature.
Considering Gözel's 3 years of mushroom cultivation, she is still a “ newbie ” by industry standards. However, growing mushrooms opened a new page in the lives of Gözel and her children.
According to Gözel, who continues his production in the Yalıhüyük district of Konya, which is the smallest district of Turkey in terms of population, with a population of 1600, this place is quite different from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, where he lives with his wife and children.
Gozel, who decided to move back to these lands where he was born and grew up in 2017, knew that agriculture was the most important industry for the region. After meeting with the local representatives of the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture in 2018, Gözel decided to establish a mushroom business.
Mushroom cultivation, which requires low initial costs and an area that can be kept dark, is a suitable cultivation for beginners. However, Gözel, who has no knowledge of mushroom cultivation, continues his search for help, and finds himself in charge of the Göksu Taşeli Basin Development Project, a joint effort of the International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD ) and the State of the Republic of Turkey, to support all kinds of small-scale farmers in the Central Anatolian region. found in the learning program.
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Thanks to this program, in which mushroom growers of all levels of experience teach and learn from each other, Gözel said that he learned new things from everyone he met, from producers with 20 years of experience to producers with 5 years of experience.
With 3 to 5 growth cycles per year and around 3 tons of yield per harvest, mushroom cultivation is typically a profitable crop, but often needs little or no marketing due to its high quality. Due to these features, Gözel's business started to develop in a short time and was able to supply mushrooms to Konya , Antalya and Manavgat regions through intermediaries.
With the support of the project, Gözel established a greenhouse in a short time, and then another greenhouse. Today, Gözen, which has a production area of 210 m2, transfers its knowledge to other farmers as learned from others; He is happy to give advice and especially to help women get started in this business.
The news of his success spread in a very short time. Today, Gözel's phone is constantly being called by people from all over the country who want to start a mushroom business.
Meltem Gözel really loves her job. Because the fungus supports not only him and his family, but also many women like him.