The tables of more than 200 countries around the world are set with Turkish food products for 3 meals a day. The products produced by millions of producers in Anatolia, where life and agriculture began in the world, are brought to the world by thousands of exporters. The tables of more than 200 countries around the world are set with Turkish food products for 3 meals a day.
Turkey, which exports 25 billion dollars of food products annually, has the production and export potential that will increase its export of food products to 10 billion dollars in the next 50 years.
Providing a feast of taste to the world's tables by meeting the protein, carbohydrate and fat needs of billions of people, the Turkish farmer produces 70 million tons of plants annually. While it has over 72 million small and bovine animals, it has reached an annual production volume of over 800 thousand tons of aquaculture and 2,4 million tons of poultry. It produces 55 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Europe, the Turkish producer that produces a thousand and one kinds of agricultural products from dairy products to pulses, from meat products to bakery products, from fresh fruits and vegetables to dried fruits, from olive oil to frozen foods, from aquatic products to olives, from laurel to bulgur, from thyme to poppy, from cherries to sea bream, from quince to sea bass, from figs to trout, from pickles to tomato paste. While it ranks first in agricultural output in Turkey, it is among the top 10 countries in the world league.
3 million hectares of agricultural land remained out of production
Despite the fact that 20 million hectares of agricultural land in Turkey have been excluded from agricultural production areas in the last 3 years, and global climate change has become threatening to production, Turkish farmers investing in technology increase their production and continue to increase the food supply to the world's tables.
Despite the decrease in agricultural lands, the increase in agricultural production is a necessity due to the increase in the world population. This makes it necessary to increase efficiency.
Aegean Exporters' Associations, which makes 21,5% of Turkey's agricultural product exports and is the leader in the export of agricultural products, shared their views on May 14 World Farmers' Day.
Eskinazi; “The target in food export is 50 billion dollars”
Aegean Exporters' Unions Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi; “We see exports as the insurance of the continuity of agricultural production. We are the leader in Turkey's food export. We are among the world's strongest producers and exporters in aquaculture, fruit and vegetable products, olives, olive oil, dried fruit, non-wood forest products, oil seeds sectors. We are gearing up to increase our food exports with TURQUALITY and URGE Projects, Fairs, Sectoral Trade Delegation and Purchasing Delegation Organizations. While maintaining our position in our traditional export markets in food exports, Europe, Middle East countries and the Russian Federation, we are working to grow in the USA and Japan markets. While Turkey aims to export 10 billion dollars of food products in a 50-year term, as the Aegean Region, we will strive to make 12,5 billion dollars of this export.”
Aeroplane; “Agricultural production will increase with TDIOSBs”
Hayrettin Plane, President of the Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters' Association; “Global warming threatens production more and more every day, agricultural production areas are shrinking due to drought and urbanization. Due to the population growth of the world, there is an obligation to increase our agricultural production. We can ensure sustainability in agricultural production with Specialized Organized Industrial Zones Based on Agriculture, where R&D activities are intense and productivity reaches the line level. In this way, Turkey can meet its domestic consumption and export food products to reach the targeted figures in the coming years. As fresh fruit, vegetable and fruit and vegetable products sectors, we exported 2022 billion dollars throughout Turkey in 5,5. As the Aegean Region, we contributed 1 billion 250 million dollars to this export. Another topic that we need to focus on in the agricultural sector is to enable young people to turn to the agricultural sector. We are also developing projects on this topic.”
Light; “Production should not be interrupted in 11 provinces in the earthquake zone”
Mehmet Ali Işık, President of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters' Association; “As TİM Agriculture Commission, we visited the regions affected by the 6 February earthquake. These provinces are Turkey's very important food warehouses, especially citrus, grains, pulses, oil seeds, dried fruit, cotton, watermelon, pepper for tomato paste, onions, wheat, olives and olive oil. There are serious losses in this region, especially in irrigation systems, labor, logistics and processing facilities. These losses must be eliminated as soon as possible and production must continue without interruption. These 11 provinces met Turkey's needs and achieved an export of 2022 billion dollars in 7,4. We must revive the production in the earthquake zone. As a matter of fact, the food need of 8 billion people worldwide is increasing by 1,3 percent every year. We can meet this need by increasing our production. There is a trend towards healthy food in the world. Organic production has been carried out in Turkey for 35 years under the leadership of the Aegean Region. We are working to increase the demand for food products produced in Turkey around the world with good agricultural practices and organic production”
Crete: “We cannot protect the producer or the consumer with export bans”
Bedri Girit, President of Aegean Fisheries and Animal Products Exporters' Association; “While Turkey is Europe's largest sea bass producer and the world's second largest sea bass exporter, we are the world's first in sea bream production and second in the world in exports. While we are the world's third in trout, we are second in the world in eggs. We are among the top 10 countries in the world in the export of all products in our product range. We help the world close the 3 meal protein gap. In 2022, we exceeded 4 billion dollars in exports. We cannot protect the producer or the consumer by imposing bans on exported products. Instant decisions in agricultural production always harm production and exports. We have been trying to create export markets in our own sector for many years. While the restrictions imposed by a decision taken in one evening put us in a difficult situation in the export markets, it causes the efforts of our producers to be wasted.”
Öztürk: “The leader of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, food exports”
Muhammet Öztürk, President of the Aegean Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters' Association; “As the grains, pulses, oilseeds sector, we have realized a slice of 25 billion dollars of Turkey's 11,2 billion dollars of food exports on our own. We made 42 percent of Turkey's food exports. We believe that intensive efforts should be made to increase the production of agricultural products that can be grown in Anatolian lands, especially vegetable oil, wheat, barley, corn and pulses, which Turkey has a foreign trade deficit with. If we increase our agricultural production with the right program, we believe that our annual exports will increase and our food imports, which is at the level of 2022 billion dollars by the end of 18,6, will decrease further.
Umur: “Virginia and burley tobacco production will increase”
Ömer Celal Umur, President of the Aegean Tobacco Exporters' Association; “Türkiye is the world leader in oriental tobacco production. The gradual requirement for 30 percent of the tobacco to be used in tobacco products produced in Turkey to be produced in Turkey brought about an increase in the production of virginia and burley type tobacco. Especially in Virginia type tobacco production, we reached 3 million kilos in a 10-year period. The kilogram price of oriental tobacco, which was 2021 TL in 35, increased to 2022 TL in 70. The 100 percent increase in tobacco prices paved the way for the number of producers in the Aegean Region to increase from 26 thousand to 30 thousand. Turkish tobacco industry; While leaving 2022 behind with an export performance of 828,9 million dollars, we aim to export 2023 million dollars in 900. While 2022 thousand producers produced 26 million kilos of tobacco in the Aegean Region in 37, tobacco exporting companies signed contracts with 2023 thousand producers for 30. It is expected that the increase in the number of producers will have a positive impact on the harvest and the tobacco production in the Aegean Region will increase to 45 million kilograms.”
Er: “The olive industry is experiencing its golden age”
Davut Er, President of the Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters' Association; “Turkey's olive tree wealth has increased from 20 million to 90 million in the last 192 years. In 2023, we became the world leader with 735 thousand tons of table olive yield, and we became the second in the world with 422 thousand tons of olive oil. We are breaking new records in exports every month. In the 6-month period, our olive oil exports amounted to 92 thousand tons and rose to 407 million dollars in foreign currency. We hope that our olive and olive oil exports will reach 1 billion dollars at the end of the season. With the olive trees planted in recent years becoming more productive, we will reach a yield of 1 million 200 thousand tons in table olives and 650 thousand tons in olive oil. We will reach the level of 1,5 billion dollars in exports. All the added value in the exports of the olive growing sector, which is all domestic input, will remain in our country. If our producers and branded exports are supported, our packaged product exports will increase and Turkey will be the winner.”
Gürle: “We are the world leader in thyme and laurel”
Ali Fuat Gürle, President of the Aegean Furniture Paper and Forest Products Exporters' Association; “While laurel and thyme are the leading products in Turkey's non-wood forest products, we are the world leader in exports for these two products. Our Aegean Furniture Paper and Forest Products Exporters' Association dominates the export of these two products and many non-wood forest products. There is a trend towards avoidance of salt and spices around the world. Consumers are turning to healthy foods, and if our producers produce according to the expectations of consumer countries, we can produce and export 25 thousand tons of thyme in the short term and 40 thousand tons in the medium term. For this purpose, we organize regular trainings every year for our farmers who produce thyme, and we share the issues that they should pay attention to in thyme production.”