Stating that calf support payment schedule has been finalized and the first group payment will begin tomorrow, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir PAKDEMİRLİ (PhD) said that a total of 528 million Turkish lira will be paid to 438 thousand 284 breeders in this context.
Participating and giving information in the program "173rd Anniversary of the Agricultural Education in Turkey", organized by the Ankara University, Minister Pakdemirli stated that the agricultural education began at the Yeşilköy Ayamama Farm in Istanbul on January 10, 1846, "On this occasion I am celebrating January 10 Agriculture Day of all of our farmers. I wish 2019 to be a fruitful and qualified year for our country in agriculture," he added.
Mentioning in his speech that Turkey's agricultural revenue ranks first in Europe and seventh in the world, Mr. Pakdemirli continued, presence of sheep and goat and dairy cattle in Turkey ranks first in the European Union, and the cattle existence ranked second after France in the European Union.
AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT INCREASED 700 PERCENT IN LAST 16 YEARS
Minister Pakdemirli stated that agricultural support increased by 700 percent in the last 16 years from 1.8 billion TL to 14.5 billion TL, "We are strong as a country in terms of being close to foreign markets, agriculture based and dependent industry, and culture of traditional production. We are a world leader in hazelnut, cherry, fig and apricot. We are in a region with a trade volume of 21 trillion USD. We all know very well how important the security of seed supply is. The domestic seed is very important for preserving our endemic resources and added value. As a result of our work, we increased our domestic seed production from 150 thousand tons to over 1 million tons. We rank the 11th in World certified seed market with 750 million USD, "he said.
TARGET IS 15 BILLION INCOME INCREASE WITH IRRIGATION IN AGRICULTURE
Minister Pakdemirli said the water has the duty of being a catalyst. "In 16 years, the number of dams increased from 276 to 541, the number of HPPs increased from 105 to 534 and the number of drinking water facilities increased from 31 to 236. Currently, we have 6.5 million hectares of irrigated land. We aim to open our 2 million hectares of land for irrigation. As a result of this, an annual revenue increase of 15 billion TL will be supplied in agriculture, "he said.
EVAPORATION WILL BE PREVENTED IN THE DAMS
Minister Pakdemirli stated that they will explain the Action Plan for Underground Dams soon, "It is possible to prevent evaporation with underground dams. Also you can keep a significant amount of water with small underground barriers without spending a lot of money. In this way, problems related to dams such as expropriation, resettlement and EIA will be eliminated with investments in underground dams" he continued.
CALF SUPPORT PAYMENT BEGINS
Minister Bekir Pakdemirli also stated during his speech that the calf support payments will be initiated tomorrow and added: "We have clarified the calf support payment planning. In the first group, on Friday 11 January (tomorrow) at 18.00 we are paying the support that costs 320 million TL for our 263,519 breeders whose identity number has the last digits 4-6-8. In the second group, 174,765 of our breeders who have the last digit of the identification number as 0-2; we are going to pay 202 million TL support on Friday, January 18 at 18.00. In total, 438,284 breeders will be paid 522 million TL of calf support".
THE EAR TAG WILL BE FREE OF CHARGE, THERE WILL BE 15 PERCENT DISCOUNT ON PESTICIDES
Minister Pakdemirli highlighted that sheep and goats and bovine animal ear tags will be covered by the Ministry from now on and said: "Besides after the meeting held with the pesticide producers and industrialists, they will make 15 % discount on the pesticides. I would like to express my gratitude to the producers and industrialists for their nationalist behaviour on behalf of the farmers."
LOCATION WILL EXPAND IN HEMP PRODUCTION
Minister Pakdemirli underlined that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked about very important issues related to hemp production. "We will work to increase hemp production in the coming period. As the Ministry, we currently allow hemp production in 19 provinces. According to the supply and demand of the commercial activity, we will also expand the locations. In addition, a research project is being carried out in cooperation with Samsun Karadeniz Agricultural Research Institute, Ondokuz Mayıs University and TUBITAK. In the coming period, we will allow new locations where hemp production will be carried out ecologically. We will share the outputs of our research project with both our producers, our sector and all stakeholders" he said.
After his speech at the ceremony, Minister Pakdemirli, who gave the Science and Service Incentive awards of the Faculty of Agriculture at Ankara University, celebrated the 10th of January Journalists' Day of the journalists who followed him.