Press release…
The Turkish dried fruit sector came together at the “Dried Fruit Workshop” in Izmir with the intensive participation of more than 120 participants from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Trade, Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, Research Institutes, Provincial Directorates of Agriculture and Forestry in order to sustainably increase the exports of seedless raisins, dried figs and dried apricots, traditional export products in which the Turkish dried fruit sector is the world leader in production and exports. The dried fruit sector determined its strategies for 2024 export targets.
Conscious farming is needed!
Osman Öz, Chairman of the Turkish Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Associations Sector Board, during his speech, said that if your product is of good quality, you can market it everywhere.
“Quality starts from production, from the garden. We ignore quality in some products, especially in figs. The quality of apricot is improving. We should progress by creating new products and doing R&D. Turkish grape has gradually lost its effect in the German market because of pesticides,” he said.
Pointing out that they need to limit the number of pesticides, he added, “Grapes have 6-7 major diseases. There are 20-25 pesticides to be used to prevent these diseases. Licences should not be given to everyone. Our Ministry of Agriculture should be on top of this issue. Our biggest problem is agrochemicals. The Chinese buy better quality goods even than Europe. Pesticides should be sold under certain procedures and the number of agrochemicals should be minimised. The agrochemical issue affects the future of our products. Conscious farming is necessary.”