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Press release…
Featured Topic at the 6th International Poultry Congress: Sustainable Production
The 6th International Poultry Congress (UBEK-6), which has been organized by the Association of Poultry Meat Producers and Breeders (BESD-BIR) since 2011, was held at the Titanic Deluxe Golf Belek in Antalya from March 1 through March 5, 2023. The opening of Türkiye’s largest and only congress in the sector with international participation, was carried out with speeches by Congress President Professor Dr. Necmettin Ceylan, BESD-BIR President Naci Kaplan, International Poultry Meat Council (IPC) Secretary General Nicolò Cinotti and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Food and Control General Director Dr. Durali Koçak along with over 800 scientists and industry stakeholders from Türkiye and 32 other nations, including agricultural and food engineers, veterinarians and medical doctors, attended the opening session of the congress.
During the first opening speech of the 6th International Poultry Meat Congress, Congress President Professor Dr. Necmettin Ceylan said, “As a reflection of the success of the poultry industry in Türkiye and around the world, our congress continues to grow on an international scale, with each passing year. At the point we have reached with UBEK-6, it is an important organization with participation from 32 different countries, 21 sessions, 79 papers and 73 poster presentations, creating academic value for the poultry industry, which is always in cooperation with science. We are all proud of this path that we have realized by BESD-BIR”.
“The poultry industry one of the most successful sustainable production sectors”
Pointing out that poultry is among the most successful sectors in terms of sustainability, Professor Dr. Ceylan explained, “Compared to 60 years ago, the poultry industry has reduced resource consumption by 75%, greenhouse gas emissions by 36%, land use by 72% and water use by 58%. The industry is continuously working in this direction to reduce its carbon footprint at every stage of production.”
“We will heal our wounds together”
Emphasizing that they are deeply saddened by the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş and other ten neighbouring provinces, Naci Kaplan, the President of BESD-BIR, stated that since day one, the Turkish poultry industry has provided the region with both food and other assistance. “This is a marathon and we will do everything possible until our citizens find peace. As BESD-BIR, we will cancel all unscientific activities in our congress and use them to help the earthquake region,” Kaplan noted.
“Poultry industry has developed a lot in the last 30 years”
“The Turkish poultry industry has come a long way in 30 years. We adhere to the highest level of national and international quality standards and food safety principles in our production. The poultry industry is committed to sustainable and environmentally friendly production methods, one of the most crucial issues of the new world order and continues to develop at a rapid rate. Poultry production in the country in 1995 was 316 thousand tonnes and per capita consumption was 5 kilograms. At the point we have reached today, Türkiye’s production, which ranks 8th in world trade, has reached 2.47 million tonnes; 2.42 million tonnes of amount is chicken, 54 thousand tonnes are turkey. Per capita consumption has soared from 5 kilos to 21 kilos today,” Kaplan added.
“We have become an industry that exports to 97 countries in 2023“
Naci Kaplan ended his words with reference to the foreign trade of the sector, “Poultry exports have also boosted continuously and reached 646,880 tonnes in 2022, excluding chicken foot. We attach great importance to exports. While achieving these figures, the number of exported countries has steadily grown with exports to 97 countries in 2022. The country to which we export the most is Iraq. Our efforts are continuing to establish new markets and expand our existing ones.”
“The world poultry industry is in a healthy growth and has a bright future ahead”
“BESD-BIR has been an active member of the International Poultry Council for 17 years, representing the Turkish poultry industry, as one of the five founding countries, of which 30 countries that realize 86 percent of the world’s poultry trade are members,” said Nicolo Cinotti, Secretary General of the International Poultry Council, in his opening speech, “The poultry industry is in good shape and has a promising future. The two most serious issues confronting the industry, which has a global economic value of 388 billion dollars, are bird flu (AI) and antimicrobial resistance. Our council, the sole representative of world poultry, has been carrying out intensive coordinated studies on these issues in recent years, following up these studies by continuing official studies with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Trade Organization (VTO).”
Participating in the opening, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Manager of Food and Control Dr. Durali Koçak also underscored the success of the poultry industry in agricultural production and said, “Salmonella and antimicrobial resistance, in particular, are declining. On residue, successful results have been obtained. In terms of animal production, Türkiye’s poultry industry is the equivalent of a healthy diet. With the security of food supply, the jobs it creates and the contributions it makes to the national economy, the industry continues to grow year after year. We have complete faith in the industry, which follows the correct and complete integration model from farm to fork in accordance with food safety principles.”
More than 800 scientists and industry stakeholders from 32 countries participated!
Organized biennially by BESD-BIR, more than 800 scientists and industry stakeholders from agriculture, veterinery medicine, food engineers and medical doctors from 30 countries, including Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Jordan and Greece, Germany, America, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Finland, France, Croatia, Netherlands, Iran, Spain, Italy, Kosovo, Lebanon, Hungary, Macedonia, Egypt, Nigeria participated in the event.
The Congress featured 19 sessions and two satellite symposiums held in three separate halls at the Titanic Deluxe Golf Belek Convention Centre. Experts in their fields had 79 papers and 73 poster presentations across 21 sessions. Furthermore, 60 students from various faculties related to the sector received scholarships to attend the congress and follow the scientific programme. The CAB Abstract Database includes all papers and abstracts presented at the 6th International Poultry Congress. CAB Abstracts is a database created by CABI, which was founded in 1910, to disseminate knowledge in agriculture and life sciences and make it available to the public for free. Papers included and presented at the Congress will be made available to all relevant persons and institutions in the world through the CAB Abstract Database…
