THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
Turkiye, the world leader in cherry production, had a foreign exchange income of 189 million dollars in 2021. Turkish cherry exporters declared 2022 as the “Year of Combating Pesticides” in order to obtain export visas to the Far East market, especially to China, South Korea and Taiwan and to avoid obstacles in exports to the European Union and Russia.
Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association (EYMSİB) held the “Sectoral Evaluation Meeting with Cherry Producers and Exporters” in İzmir’s Kemalpaşa district, where the cherry harvest was first held in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hayrettin Uçak, chair of EYMSİB, said, “After a long break due to the pandemic, the producers, exporters and all the stakeholders of the industry came together for strawberries in Aydın’s Sultanhisar district last week. Now we as all stakeholders of the sector are gathering in Kemalpaşa so as to discuss cherry exports. There was 70 thousand tonnes of cherry exports across Turkiye last season and this year the industry increased its cherry exports. I would like to emphasize that we want to boost both on the basis of quantity and to export to new markets with high added value.”
Pesticide detected in analyzes…
Underlining that the spraying of agricultural crops should be done at the right time, at the right dose, with the right tools and equipment, in accordance with the time between the last spraying and harvest time and for the target organism, Uçak added, “Otherwise, we will harm both human and environmental health in pesticide applications. We are experiencing problems in our exports. As part of our ‘We Know the Pesticides We Use’ project, we took samples from 85 cherry orchards in İzmir, Manisa, Aydın and Afyon provinces. Unfortunately, the results of the analysis are incompatible with the EUROPEAN UNION 5, incompatible with the TURKISH FOOD CODEX 13, incompatible with the Russian FEDERATION 13, MRL value has been determined. We have full confidence that our producers will be more sensitive about this issue and will reduce the residue problem to zero.”
