THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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“It is inevitable that the base purchase price of wheat, which was announced as 2.25 liras this year, will exceed 5 liras next year”
While seeking a remedy for the hike pressure on bread prices, the news has come that the new period wheat production costs had increased tremendously.
Hacı Ömer Güler, Chairperson of the Seed Growers Sub-Union (TYAB), said that the cost of a kilogram of wheat produced for 1.75 lira this year has increased by more than 100 percent, to over 3.5 liras. Stating that the cost increase in Turkey has risen well above the world prices with the effect of the exchange rate, Güler pointed out that it is inevitable that the base purchase price of wheat, which was announced by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) of 2.25 liras this year, will exceed 5 liras next year.
Güler said, “We suggest that the world price plus support payment formula so that the cost rise would not be reflected on the bread prices in the same way.”
Güler indicated that due to high price hikes, farmers have reduced or never used fertilizers and that low-yielding seeds are used instead of certified seeds, which boost yields by 25 percent.
Güler underlined that for this reason, a yield decrease of 10 percent, that is, over 1.7 million tonnes, is expected in wheat production.
“Everybody is planting corn. But I would like to warn that corn feeds the animals but not the people. On the other hand, farmer, who has cash problems, sold the wheat for 2.25-2.50 liras this year and that the middlemen stored it in the warehouse and put it on the market for 5 liras,” Güler added.
Güler concluded that if the purchase price of wheat from world prices is announced and the additional costs are paid to the farmer through supports, the new price hike pressures on bread can be alleviated.
