The local and national landscape rose variety, named `Gulbag 1071`, was registered as a result of rose breeding efforts, and it is getting ready to color the parks and gardens of Istanbul. In the project, in which local and national roses will be used instead of roses whose patents are abroad, all laboratory and production processes are carried out at Yalova Ataturk Horticultural Research Institute. Within the scope of the project, there are three more rose varieties for which production and marketing rights have been obtained. Various registration applications were made this year for the addition of newly developed rose cultivars named 'Gulsari 1923', 'Yigit,' and 'Gulce'in addition to the already registered cultivars named Gonca 1961, Gunes 1919 and Kurtulus 77. A total of 4 rose varieties have been registered so far. Istanbul Agac ve Peyzaj A.S., a subsidiary of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), developed the cultivar of Gulbag 1071 as a result of the joint project with Yalova Ataturk Horticultural Central Research Institute. The project started in 2013 and was carried out in order to develop a local rose variety and bring it to Turkey. This particular rose variety will be harvested from the fields where they were grown in November and planted in Istanbul's parks, gardens, and landscape areas. Roses increase the appeal of parks with their 7-month-long flowering duration. Especially in this process where there is a danger of drought, the fact that roses are among the plants that require less water and that, once planted, they bloom every year with only little care is a reason for preferring roses in green areas
"Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Wood and Landscape Inc. Plant, Production and Planning Chief Ebru Al May, who gave information about the project, said that they have conducted research and development studies since 2013 and added that the first production took place in 2020. She said: "We produced Gulbag 1071, Turkey's first domestic and national rose in 2021. We will deliver 5,000 Gulbag 1071 roses in 2022. This year, 50,000 roses will be delivered, and they will be ready for planting in November. The roses planted n the green areas of Istanbul so far were of foreign origin. With this production, we aimed to end the dependency on foreign products on this issue. With the Gulbag 1071 we produce, our country will not be forced to spend any money abroad. Since we emphasize the importance of the employment of women in the production field, it will also make a great contribution in this regard."
Stating that Gulbag 1071 is Turkey's first domestic and national rose, Ebru Al May said, "Apart from this, we have 3 other rose species registered and for which we have the right to produce and market. These are Gonca 1961, Kurtulus 77, and Gunes 1919 species. We are planning to increase the number of species to 40. The rose species produced will be used for the needs of Istanbul in the first stage. In the next period, we plan to send them to all cities of Turkey and then export them. The biggest feature of Gulbag 1071 is that it blooms in 7 months of the year. In other words, it is a plant with a very high aesthetic value. All of the roses we have used so far were of foreign origin, and the patent was of foreign origin. By the end of the domestic and national rose production project, savings of up to 60% will be achieved, and this amount will remain in our national economy. The project had two phases, our first phase was research and development studies and this took 7 years. We registered our first species in 2021."
Source: Haberturk