TURKISH AGRI.NEWS

Claims that the novel coronavirus pandemic will cause a food shortage in Turkey are not rational because the country has no issues with agricultural production, especially of cereals, says an agriculture expert. Turkey, which produces around 20 million tons of wheat annually, is a self-sufficient country, Professor Orhan Özçatalbaş told Anadolu Agency. "Expectations of famine in the next 3-4 years for a country which has planted wheat on seven million hectares of land before the coronavirus epidemic is unrealistic unless there are unusual climatic factors," he said. Touching on Russia's suspension of wheat exports as a protectionist measure due to the coronavirus, he said Turkey imports wheat from Russia for manufacturing and exporting industrial products such as biscuits, flour, pasta and semolina and not for domestic consumption, including bread. He said the country imported 60 million tons of wheat in the last two decades and exported products equivalent to 7...

Chairman of Turkish Flour Industrialists Federation (TUSAF) Günhan Ulusoy said that about 19-20 million tons of wheat produced annually but Turkey should prepare for drought years in wheat... He said: "An arid year can reduce this amount by 20 percent. Our production should be raised to 21 million and building 5 million tons of safety stock is required." In a statement to the AA correspondent, Ulusoy said that wheat production remains the same with the increase of yield while crop areas contracting but new policies should be determined according to the current situation. Stating that there was 9.3 million hectares of wheat cultivation area in 2001, Ulusoy expressed that this area fell below 7 million hectares in 2019, "The most important factors are the agricultural area going out of agriculture and the farmers shifting to alternative crops. This is the break point yet should no longer fall" he noted. Ulusoy, International Operational Millers Association o...