Rural Development with Local Products Project

About the project

With the project we carried out in 2016-2017, we aimed to create economic value from prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), a fruit that was previously underutilized and sold informally from the backs of trucks. Through this initiative, we introduced the fruit to formal agricultural and commercial sectors, emphasizing its potential in food production and export markets.

Project outcomes

• Prickly pear was registered in the Farmer Registration System (ÇKS) for the first time in Turkey, officially recognizing it as a cultivated crop.
• New product lines such as prickly pear ice cream and marmalade were developed, demonstrating its potential for commercial food production.
• A new export category was created, allowing local farmers and producers to benefit economically from the international trade of this fruit.
• Awareness was raised about the agricultural, nutritional, and economic benefits of prickly pear, encouraging further investment in its cultivation.

This project played a pioneering role in rural development by transforming an overlooked fruit into a valuable economic asset. Due to its impact, our project was recognized as the flagship project by the European Union Delegation to Turkey, highlighting its success in enhancing local agriculture, promoting sustainability, and supporting rural economies.

Work continuing after the project

After the 2016–2017 project ended, we continued our work on prickly pear through knowledge sharing with producers, product development and support for scientific research.

• 2020 — Practical training with women producers: In Taşobası, Tarsus, we prepared prickly pear desserts with women producers. We worked through preparation, cooking and serving as a way to use fruit that could not be sold fresh.
• 2020 — Material support for university research: Our volunteers collected prickly pear pads from our trial plot and supplied them free of charge for R&D work requested by the Department of Food Engineering at Manisa Celal Bayar University.
• 2023 — Prickly pear soap development: We produced soap by combining prickly pear with traditional olive oil and bay laurel soap-making techniques. We introduced the product as part of our work exploring different uses for prickly pear.
• 2024 — International knowledge sharing: We presented our prickly pear project to managers and technical staff from the CACIAL agricultural cooperative in Portugal.

The cultivation and marketing handbook, promotional brochure and project report are available in the Project outputs section below.

Research publication related to the project

Academics Hamdi Ayyıldız, Adem Erol and Yusuf Nikpeyma, who attended our project workshop, published Hint İnciri ve Kırsal Kalkınma (Opuntia Ficus Indica and Rural Development). The article appears in G.Ü. İslahiye İİBF Uluslararası E-Dergi, 2020, volume 4, issue 4, pages 272–281.

The article explores the cultivation, marketing and potential uses of prickly pear across different sectors from a rural development perspective. It offers recommendations for farmers and entrepreneurs interested in growing the crop.

The full text in Turkish is available in the Project outputs section below. The article also includes an English abstract. Bibliographic details and the abstract are available in the DergiPark publication record.