THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
Nejdat Sin, Coordinator Chairperson of Mediterranean Exporters’ Associations (AKİB) and also Chairperson of the Board of Mediterranean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association, announced that Turkey’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports reached 201.7 million dollars in April, with an increase of 70 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. Nejdat Sin emphasized that the Eastern Mediterranean region supported Turkey’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports at the rate of 59 percent during the period in question.
“We will highlight the quality, safe and rich product variety”
Nejdat Sin said that in the new world order, which has been created after the Covid-19 pandemic, the main goal is to make the products obtained in the agriculture and food sector healthy, reliable, traceable, efficient and sustainable for all economies.
Sin also stated that the European Green Deal criteria announced by the European Union are of critical importance for the continuity of Turkey’s increase in fresh fruit and vegetable exports.
Sin said, “The European Union, which has a value of 811.2 million dollars and a 30 percent share in our sector exports of 2.73 billion dollars last year, places the agricultural sector at the focal point in the green transformation it designs. Among the main components of the European Green Deal are field-to-table, healthy, environmentally friendly food systems. As the Turkish agricultural sector, we have to fulfill our duty in terms of food safety and carbon footprint reduction.”
‘We exported tomatoes the most in April’
Stating that they are a bridge to reflect Turkey’s annual average 54 million tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetable production to exports and despite the negative effects of the pandemic, they continue to export uninterruptedly thanks to the measures and supports, Sin explained, “Our industry exports 327 thousand 761 tonnes of products to foreign markets in April, brought to our country 201 million 722 thousand dollars of foreign currency. Fresh fruit and vegetable exports of our country increased by 70 percent in April, with a value of 69 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.”
Indicating that Turkey exported 98.9 million dollars of vegetables and 57.6 million dollars of fresh fruits in April, Sin noted, “The most exported product in April was tomatoes with a value of 41.9 million dollars. Pepper took the second place with a value of 27.1 million dollars and lemon took the third place with a value of 24.3 million dollars. This month, we achieved the highest increase in exports in lemons, potatoes, onions, pears and peaches.”
“The highest exports were made to Russia, Romania and Iraq”
Evaluating the April exports of the fresh fruit and vegetable sector according to country groups, Sin concluded, “In the fourth month of the year, the country to which we export the most was Russia with an increase of 85 percent and a value of 57.5 million dollars. Romania ranked second, with a 64 percent increase and a value of 30.1 million dollars, followed by Iraq with an increase of 81 percent and a value of 14.3 million dollars. In the month in question, we achieved a surge in exports of up to 5 times in the markets of India, Libya, Syria, Kosovo and Belarus.”
