The Menemen Living Lab focuses on demonstrating practical, low-cost and ecosystem-friendly agricultural solutions to improve water efficiency, soil health and climate resilience in Türkiye’s Gediz Basin.
Led by the International Agricultural Research and Training Center (UTAEM), the Living Lab operates in the Menemen Plain in the Aegean Region — an intensively cultivated agricultural area facing increasing pressure from water scarcity, drought and soil degradation.
The region is characterised by irrigated agriculture based largely on open-channel and furrow irrigation systems, with olive groves and rotational crops such as wheat, maize and legumes playing a central role in local production systems.
Challenges:
At the same time, the area faces multiple interconnected pressures linked to:
Demonstrating Nature-based Solutions
The Menemen Living Lab combines smart irrigation technologies with agroecological and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) designed to improve soil moisture retention, reduce water use and strengthen ecosystem resilience.
The Living Lab is organised into two interconnected sub-labs — one focused on water management and one on soil regeneration — while also integrating carbon sequestration approaches.
Current activities include:
Practical & affordable measures with tangible impact
Particular emphasis is placed on demonstrating simple and affordable practices that can realistically be adopted under everyday farming conditions.
Micro-catchments constructed in late 2025 have already demonstrated their ability to capture winter rainfall and improve soil moisture retention, while demonstration plots using mulching, intercropping and green manure have shown encouraging results in soil moisture conservation and crop performance.
From Demonstration Fields To Wider Adoption
The Menemen Living Lab combines field experimentation with strong stakeholder engagement and regional dissemination activities.
The Living Lab also works closely with the Menemen Chamber of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Water Users Associations, and local farmers and producer groups.
A key objective is helping stakeholders move from awareness to practical implementation by providing visible demonstration sites, technical support and evidence of how sustainable practices perform under local conditions.
Supporting resilient agriculture in the Gediz Basin
The Menemen Living Lab aims to contribute to water and energy savings, improved soil organic matter and carbon sequestration, reduced chemical fertiliser use, and more sustainable and economically viable agricultural systems.
The project also explores how Nature-based Solutions and smart irrigation can help agricultural regions adapt to increasing climate variability while protecting soil and water resources over the long term.
