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Press release…
A Meeting was Held with Tomato Paste Companies for a Seamless Tomato Season…
A meeting was held with the representatives of tomato paste factories operating in İzmir province, which ranks 3rd in tomato paste production in the country, to evaluate the production in 2020, to plan the production for 2021 and to discuss the demands and problems.
At the meeting, chaired by İzmir Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Director Mustafa Özen, the problems of tomato producers and their expectations from the companies were conveyed to the factory representatives, while the problems of the companies were discussed and the way to be followed in 2021 was tackled.
Listening to the company representatives one by one and conveying the expectations of the farmers, Özen said, “We as all suppliers; fertilizer and pesticide manufacturers, nylon makers, blacksmiths, nursery makers, traders, industrialists should take into consideration the farmers. We should protect and ensure to survive and they are our producers. Production has no value unless our farmers can sell and market their crops.”
Özen explained, “We know that without them there would be no agricultural production. When we look at İzmir today, it is a province with 3.6 million decares of agricultural land. We have a product range of around 155. Tomatoes are among our most important crops in this region with a production amount of 900 thousand tonnes. This is an important potential. If our tomato producers continue to increase this production from year to year, there is a reason for this; it is a demanded product, it is a cash crop.”
“If there was no market, they would not continue this production in this way. If a factory comes out at the beginning of the season and says that I will not buy tomatoes this year, there will be a reduction in production. We have a farmer family close to 150 thousand and tomato producers of around 3 thousand. They produce tomatoes on an area of 115 thousand decares. Torbalı, Tire, Bergama, Kınık, Bayındır are the districts where production is mostly made. There are some problems conveyed to us by our tomato paste producers who produced in these districts last year. The problems experienced at this point are actually the issues of both the buyer and the seller,” Özen added.
Indicating that all the problems expressed by the companies at the meeting will be conveyed to the producers as well, Özen concluded, “We will sustain our efforts to ensure that production in Izmir region, which is at an important point in tomato production, continues to rise and seamlessly.”
