THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Turkish farmers did not leave the soil during the epidemic period, increased production…
Dr. Mehmet Hasdemir, General Director of Plant Production of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that humanity once again found out the importance of food and agriculture during the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic.
Dr. Hasdemir said that Turkey, which has over 12 thousand plant species, 3 thousand 649 of which are endemic, in Afyonkarahisar province, where he came for the seed distribution ceremony, continued to be an important agricultural country in this geography.
Reminding that they started 8 new crop production projects in Afyonkarahisar with the instruction of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli, Dr. Hasdemir said, “In the main axis of these projects, we have implemented projects that bring the seeds to the soil in order to gain the idle, fallow and empty lands to agriculture.”
Noting that they started the production of oilseeds such as sunflower, camelina and rosemary, which are an important need for the country, with the seeds they provide to the farmers with a 75 percent grant, Dr. Hasdemir explained:
“During the pandemic process, humanity once again saw the importance of food and agriculture. In this period, the Turkish farmer did not close to their homes and did not stay back from the field and soil and obtained a total of 126 million tonnes of crops.”
“We are aiming for new projects to increase crop production”
Emphasizing that they have implemented contracted production projects for farmers to produce crops such as soy and to provide the raw material needed by industrialists, Dr. Hasdemir added, “Afyonkarahisar region is an important centre of medicinal and aromatic plants with its biological diversity. step was taken. Many steps have been taken in Afyonkarahisar province to transform biological wealth into economic wealth.”
Indicating that these steps will be reflected on the farmers, Dr. Hasdemir completed his words as follows:
“I hope we are starting projects that will be exported to many countries of the world by converting the crops produced by our farmers into value-added products. Nowadays in the pandemic process, we are carrying out projects that will bring the seeds to the soil in order to produce more and harvest more crops. Afyonkarahisar is also an important fruit production centre. We are establishing cherry gardens in which fertilizers are used at the appropriate time, plant protection activities are carried out at the appropriate time and where proper agriculture is carried out in accordance with the principles of good agricultural practices, in order to produce the cherries we attain in the best quality way to send them to the world’s tables.”
