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Press release…
Sebahattin Arslantürk, Vice Chairman of the Eastern Black Sea Exporters’ Association (DKİB) Hazelnut and Hazelnut Products Sector Committee, said that due to the approach of the new crop hazelnut season, producers to carry out the necessary care in order to obtain quality products, as in all agricultural crops.
He stated that it is very important to take precautions against the negativities that may arise from climate change, which is a global threat for all agricultural products, in order to protect the superiority in international markets in hazelnut export, which is the agricultural product that provides the most important net foreign exchange income of to the country, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and all relevant Ministries.
Arslantürk told that the biggest problem in agriculture in Türkiye is the cost pressure caused by the excessive spike in production costs in recent years.
He also stated that the inability to produce at scale is the biggest factor in the high production costs and that the continuous shrinkage of land structures, especially through inheritance, increases the costs per unit and eliminates the competitiveness.
He pointed out that due to the high production costs, the producer could not do enough maintenance in the gardens and this situation leads to decreases in production, yield and yield every year, especially in industrial agricultural products.
“This negativity has come to the fore in hazelnut production in recent years and that the crop obtained as a result of production in an area of 740 thousand hectares unfortunately remains at the level of 700 thousand tonnes,” he said.
Arslantürk indicated that this situation poses a great risk for the sector and for this, studies should be carried out to enhance garden care and productivity immediately and supports should be given for production, not on a field-based basis.
Otherwise, he said that, taking into account the yield losses to be caused by global warming every year, it will lead to great losses in the sector if efforts are not made to improve the current situation.
“The low level of productivity per unit in our country, which is the world’s largest hazelnut producer, negatively affects the profitability of both the producer and the trader; in order to obtain more and high quality products from the unit area, an urgent transition should be made to the competitive and sustainable hazelnut farming policy, which prioritizes productivity. All countries with agricultural superiority, in order to protect against the risk of climate change to be experienced in the coming period and to ensure the food security of the population, implement intensive measures and support policies for the risk of global warming by making agriculture and food products the most important strategic sector,” he noted.
“Our country should show the necessary sensitivity to this situation and that the Ministries should immediately implement policies that are essential to ensure sustainability in agricultural crops and to encourage farmers to produce. It is still too early to make predictions about the hazelnut harvest in the new season, since the harvest will occur in the coming months depending on the weather conditions,” he added.
“The issue of vital importance before the harvest is the rise in production costs and that the government should provide the necessary support to the producer by taking this situation into account. In addition, I would like to emphasize that financial advantages should not turn into price policy games that will lead to unfair competition, by complying with the fair trade rules within the industry,” he concluded…
