Turkey's organic certified product production, which avoids the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has exceeded an annual export limit of 1.6 billion dollars. The country aims to earn 1.5 billion dollars in foreign exchange from organic products, thanks to the increasing popularity of green agriculture globally.
Producing 268 different products organically on 311,000 hectares of land, Turkey stands 53rd in Europe with about 4,000 organic product farmers. The market is expected to grow rapidly as countries like the EU, US, and Far East plan to expand their organic sectors with green agriculture projects. Turkish exporters are increasing their presence at international fairs, gearing up for the BioFach Fair in Germany, the world's largest meeting point for organic products.
Mehmet Ali Işık, Chairman of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters' Association: "Grapes, figs and apricots, which are the main products of our country, are in production and exports. We are in a leading position. We have 268 types of products. We added frozen fresh vegetables and fruits to the dried fruit. We are far ahead in cherries, sour cherries and hazelnuts. We are increasing our diversity day by day with products such as oilseeds, olive oils, pulses and grains. We have exports of around 1 billion dollars. Our food exports are around 500-600 million dollars, and cotton and organic textiles are close to 500 million dollars. Therefore, we left the 1 billion dollar figure behind. Our current goal is to reach 1.5 billion dollars.”
Işık also highlighted that the EU aims to increase the share of organic products in agricultural production to 25-30 percent with the "green agreement" declared after the pandemic-induced food supply issues. He pointed out that this would greatly increase its market. He emphasized that basin-based production is crucial for Turkey to maximize its organic production potential. “As a country, we can increase the share of organic agriculture to 10 percent by 2030 by prioritizing basin-based production. We can achieve this by preventing the division of lands through inheritance, integrating land, and making basin-based production. We want to switch to basin-based production and support organic production in Turkey. In this way, we can both protect our lands and raise healthy generations. We also sell more value-added products to the world.”
Source: raillynews.com