THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
Related Articles
Press release…
Mehmet Ali Işık, Chairperson of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association, who shared the knowledge that organic production in Turkiye started in the dried fruit sector 35 years ago, said, “The whole world is in an effort to strengthen its position in the organic sector. Biofach, the world’s largest organic fair, was held in Germany recently. Speaking at the fair, German Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir underlined that after the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, expanding the organic sector has become a necessity and that the biggest defense against Russia is to develop the organic sector.”
“Özdemir also stated that in the coming period, European Union member countries, especially Germany, set a target of organic production in 30 percent of their lands. In order for the organic sector in Turkiye to grow exponentially in the upcoming period and for our product range, which is up to 250 today, to increase even more, it is imperative that Turkiye does not lag behind the developments in the world. In this direction, the organic policy of the state should be established in cooperation with the sector and the necessary infrastructure and resources should be created,” Işık added.
Emphasizing that the products in the dried fruit sector are those that can be grown by consuming less water, Işık explained, “Figs and apricots do not require too much water. It has little impact on the carbon footprint. As the dried fruit sector, we develop projects to ramp up the production quality and food safety of three main products. In order to minimize the effects of global warming on the sector, we carry out joint studies with universities and other stakeholders of the sector.”
“We are trying to make licensed warehousing operative for an increase in quality and a stable supply of products to the world markets by ensuring the balance of supply and demand. We have the will to strengthen cooperation between institutions in our sector,” Işık concluded…
