THE FUTURE OF BLUEBERRY PRODUCTION DISCUSSED IN DETAIL IN BURSA...

Press release...

BURSA - The future of blueberry production was put on the table during a meeting organized by    Uludağ Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters' Association (UYMSİB), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture Inc. while farmers, academicians and exporters came together to discuss the issue...

In the evaluation meeting on Blueberry, also known as Likapa, which has an increasing value in Bursa and across Turkey, information and experiences were shared by product stakeholders on issues such as garden installation, crop harvesting, storage, processing, marketing and health benefits.

Speaking at the opening of the program Uludag Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters' Association (UYMSİB) Vice President Prof. Dr. Senih Yazgan said that, in a period of reduced hopes in agriculture, Blueberry might be a new hope.

"We wanted to have a meeting with the idea of ​​how to plan a good Blueberry production in small scale enterprises in Bursa. We also want to create awareness. We organized this meeting in the hope that there would be an alternative product at a point where the hopes in agriculture decreased. I hope that this meeting, where all the stakeholders are involved and our producers also participate extensively, will provide us with important gains regarding the future of this precious product," he noted.

“Blueberries are produced 600 thousand tons in the world and only 375 tons in our country”

Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Hamit Aygül also said, "Bursa takes place in the 10th place across Turkey in terms of agricultural size area. However our province thrives year on year as the amount of agricultural output. We reached to 8.5 billion liras of output in 2019. About 4 thousand food producing enterprises exist in Bursa. This province has a good position as of frozen food industry."

Stating that around 600 thousand tons of Blueberry is produced in the world, Aygül added, "In our country, this figure is approximately 375 tons. Bursa, Trabzon, Rize, Artvin, Giresun and Istanbul are among the regions that produce this product. In our province, 123 tons are produced on an area of ​​nearly 500 decares. Iznik, Inegöl, Orhaneli, Keles and Büyükorhan are leading production centres. I believe that if we continue to work in unity and solidarity on this issue, Bursa will make a great advance in this matter in the coming period."