Gülnar

Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi is continuing a small but meaningful agricultural revival in Gülnar, where the district’s heritage “Leklek” bean has been planted again with municipal seed support. Habertürk Yerel Haberler, publishing an İhlas Haber Ajansı report on July 16, 2026, reported that the municipality’s Tarımsal Hizmetler Dairesi Başkanlığı has kept the program going this year under its “Yerel Tohumların Yerinde Korunması ve Pazarlanması” project.

The focus is Şeyhömerli Mahallesi in Gülnar, where the bean is described as a local variety suited to the area’s climate and soil. The report presents the work as both an agricultural support measure and a cultural preservation effort: a way to keep a local seed alive in the place where it belongs, while helping producers move toward a crop with stronger added value.

A Local Seed Returns to Şeyhömerli Soil

According to the report, the municipality distributed “Leklek” bean seed to 15 producers this year. The project began in 2025 and continued in 2026, reaching a total of 30 producers over the two-year period. In all, the municipality has provided 300 kilograms of seed support, and the report says production has taken place on 30 decares of land.

Those figures make the project easy to understand at a neighborhood level. It is not described as a large industrial program, but as a targeted effort to help a specific local product return to production. The municipality is using seed support to reduce input costs for participating farmers, while building a stronger base for a crop that is associated with Gülnar and remembered by local people as part of older food traditions.

The report says “Leklek” bean was once among the local varieties that appeared on family tables in the area, and that it is being brought back with its distinctive aroma and flavor. That detail gives the project a human dimension: the work is not only about acreage or seed weight, but also about keeping a familiar taste connected to its place of origin.

Producer Support With an Economic Goal

Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi says the project aims to protect the region’s agricultural heritage while helping producers earn more from higher value products. The report notes that the bean draws attention because it can provide higher income for producers compared with other bean varieties. That economic point is important because heritage crops often survive only when farmers can make them work in real market conditions.

Seed support is a practical first step. By providing seed, the municipality covers one of the early costs that producers face before harvest. In Şeyhömerli, that support is being linked to a crop already described as suited to the neighborhood’s climate and soil structure. In other words, the project is not simply asking farmers to try an unfamiliar crop; it is supporting a local variety that the area already knows.

Ali Karakış, a Ziraat Teknikeri working in the municipality’s Tarımsal Hizmetler Dairesi Başkanlığı, gave the clearest numerical summary of the program. He said that 15 producers selected in Şeyhömerli received a total of 150 kilograms of “Leklek” bean seed this year, with seed input costs covered by the municipality. He also said that in 2025 and 2026 combined, 30 producers received 300 kilograms of seed and produced on 30 decares.

Geographical Indication Work Has Begun

The municipality is also pursuing a geographical indication registration process for “Leklek” bean. According to the report, the goal is to increase the product’s brand value, help pass it to future generations, and support producers’ economic gains by making the local identity of the product more visible and more formally recognized.

Karakış said the municipality has begun procedures for the geographical registration and has sent samples from the area to a research institute. The next stages will depend on the results that come back from that review. The report does not give a decision date or a detailed timetable, but it does confirm that the registration effort is active and tied directly to the current production support.

If successful, the registration process could help strengthen the identity of “Leklek” bean as a Gülnar product. For farmers, that kind of recognition can be useful only when it connects to real production, consistent quality, and reliable marketing. The current seed distribution gives the registration effort a production base, while the registration work gives the farming effort a longer-term branding goal.

Why This Matters for Mersin Agriculture

The “Leklek” bean project is a positive example of local agriculture support because it combines several priorities in one place: protecting biological diversity, supporting rural producers, preserving a remembered food, and exploring a stronger market identity through geographical indication work. The primary source describes the project as a way to protect local seeds where they are grown and to increase production rather than allowing a local variety to fade further from use.

The story is also a reminder that local food systems are built through many small decisions. A seed kept in production, a farmer’s input cost reduced, a neighborhood product documented for registration, and a crop linked to its soil can all become part of a broader rural development effort. In Gülnar’s Şeyhömerli Mahallesi, the municipality’s current work is giving “Leklek” bean another season in the ground and another chance to become better known beyond the farms that have kept its memory alive.