THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
Related Articles
Press release…
Veysel Memiş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mediterranean Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association (AHBİB), stated that in Türkiye, where pulses production is limited to 1.2 million tonnes, exporter companies with a processing capacity of 4 million tonnes are experiencing a shortage of raw materials and that it has become essential to make use of fallow agricultural lands by planting pulses in order to close the supply deficit.
Speaking at the Production in Türkiye’s Century Summit organised by the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) in the leading Mediterranean province of Mersin, AHBİB President Veysel Memiş said: “Our biggest expectation as a sector is to be able to export unlimited exports, not limited. In order for this to be possible, there is a need to develop strategies to ramp up production instead of implementing export restrictions and quotas in pulses products.”
Reminding that AHBİB undertook an important mission in the United Nations (UN) declaration of 2016 as the World Pulses Year and February 10 as World Pulses Day, Veysel Memiş noted, “We were very happy and honoured to celebrate World Pulses Day at the Production in Türkiye Century Summit attended by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı.”
Evaluating pulses production and exports in many aspects at the summit organised with the theme of “From Soil to Future”, Memiş underlined that pulses products started to take their rightful place in food trends in the new world order, especially due to their nutritional and price advantage and that it has become inevitable to boost pulses production with the widespread consumption of vegetable protein-based food.
“Planting pulses every three years in the same field should be encouraged and even made compulsory”
Pointing out that pulses, which have fed humanity for thousands of years, are among the food products of the future thanks to their high protein value, the need for less water in their production, soil fertility and their contribution to the environment, Memiş explained, “Pulses, which provide protein equivalent to meat products in terms of nutritional value, meet 15-20 per cent of the energy needed by a person. It is recommended by experts to consume pulses at least 3 times a week to combat obesity, diabetes and some chronic diseases and thus for a healthy life. In this direction, it is of great importance to increase pulses production and to remove the obstacles in front of pulses exports.”
“Our exporter companies, which have a processing capacity of 4 million tonnes across the country, are experiencing a shortage of raw materials and in this case, it becomes essential to make use of fallow agricultural lands by planting pulses in order to close the supply deficit. In this period, our biggest expectation as the sector is to be able to export unlimitedly, not restricted. Because instead of implementing export restrictions and quotas in pulses products, there is a need to develop strategies to surge production,” Memiş added.
“We believe that encouraging or even making it compulsory, pulses cultivation every three years in the same field will be of great benefit. If we utilise our agricultural lands by planting pulses instead of leaving them fallow, we can triple the annual production amount of approximately 1.2 million tonnes. When we achieve this, our sector, which has strong equipment, high processing capacity and ready customers, will be able to reach high export figures and bring much more foreign currency to our country,” Memiş concluded…
