New tech for clean agriculture offers chemical-free food

After losing her close family to cancer, agricultural engineer Bilge Akgün developed a new technology which grows fruits and vegetables that do not carry any chemical remains nor cause any pollution. Engineer and entrepreneur Akgün has founded a company named Hextech Green and currently undertakes experiments at Istanbul Technical University's ARI Teknokent.

With her motto "Clean Agriculture," Akgün said the polluted food that has found its way to our tables is the reason for many cancer cases. "Seeing the pain that my beloved ones suffered because of cancer is a very hard thing. As an agricultural engineer, I made developing a technology that creates no pollution as my life's purpose," Akgün added.

The Smart Agriculture Machine that Akgün has developed offers solutions for cultivation with minimum water and fertilizer. With the machines, fruits and vegetables are grown without using any pesticides or chemical fertilizer. The machine saves 98 percent water and seeds are grown in 10 days. If the machine spreads, farmers will be able to grow their food without being concerned about natural disasters or drought.

Akgün has also developed a household type Smart Agriculture Machine which can be used by families living in cities.

Currently we are only selling these machines to professionals but the research and development process for a household prototype continues. The work on this smaller machine is planned to be finished by the second half of 2019 and we plan to continue with mass production as soon as possible," Akgün added.