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200 million dollars export with 200 products in organic agriculture…
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Deputy General Director of Plant Production Dr. Mehmet Hasdemir said that Turkey ranks 6th in terms of the number of organic farmers across the world.
Dr. Hasdemir noted that with 75 thousand farmers, 200 million dollars of export has been realized by organic farming through more than 200 products on 500 thousand hectares.
Pointing out that the number of farmers in organic agriculture increased with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Directorate of Plant Production, Dr. Hasdemir said, “Organic agriculture, which started with 8 products in 1980, has grown to 200 products with the supports given up to now. Today, 75 thousand farmers are doing organic agriculture on 500 thousand hectares of land. Farmers who sell their products in open organic markets, provide the country with an export income of 200 million dollars.”
Separating from conventional agriculture…
Explaining that organic agriculture is separated from natural and village agriculture and that organic agriculture is carried out with professional farmers in a certified and controlled manner, Dr. Hasdemir said, “We should not immediately say ‘organic’ to the egg we see in the basket, the straw particles in it. Or, in order to be able to call the products produced by our grandmothers as ‘organic’ in a market, they should be checked by experts and analyzed as a result of this control and eventually certified. In order to be able to call the product ‘organic’, we first need to see our ‘organic farming’ logo on the product. When we see the certificate number on the product, which indicates that the product is produced in accordance with the organic farming rules and that this production is inspected by the special certification bodies authorized by the ministry, we can only say ‘organic’.”
“We are above the world average”
Stating that started with the export of 8 products in organic farming in 1980, Dr. Hasdemir noted, “Currently we have organic agriculture products over 200. Ecological farming legislation was issued for the first time in 1994. Then, in 2004, organic farming law was issued.”
“At present, 75 thousand farmers are doing organic farming in over 500 thousand hectares. Turkey is ranked 6th in the world in terms of the number of organic farmers. in our country, we are in an organic farming process of making the world average. We support each of our organic farmers by the ministry. Turkey exports more than 200 million dollars of organic products. It is one of the important exporting countries of the world. The demand for organic products has increased especially during the pandemic process. This creates an important opportunity for organic agriculture,” Dr. Hasdemir added…
