"TURKEY IS THE WORLD LEADER IN RAISIN PRODUCTION"
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli addressed the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in Florida, USA. Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts in the world and provides more than 70% of the world's production. In 2018, 85% of this product was exported and $ 1.6 billion in export revenue was obtained. We export hazelnuts and hazelnut products to more than 100 countries. That's why we set strategies and targets in the context of increasing productivity and quality in order to maintain our leadership position in the sector. Our primary objective is to increase hazelnut production to an average of 1 million tons in the medium term. In order to achieve this goal, new hazelnut gardens will be established, especially in degraded forest lands. Secondly, the old hazelnut gardens will be rejuvenated, R&D studies will focus on new hazelnut types and production of value-added products.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli (PhD) participated in the "38th Nut and Dried Fruit Congress" held in Florida, USA. Making the opening speech there, Minister Pakdemirli said that Turkey is one of the leading countries in the world considering agricultural production and trade.
The Turkish Delegation, led by Minister Pakdemirli, participated in the "38th Nut and Dried Fruit Congress" in Florida, United States.
Academic and business circles and especially the public, composing a total of 1.278 people from 52 countries such as the USA, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Canada, Japan, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, and Australia attended to the congress held in Florida. 140 participants from Turkey participated in the Congress.
In the congress, which will last for 3 days, the latest developments in nuts and dried fruits sector will be evaluated and answers to expectations regarding the elimination of product standards and arrangements and commercial barriers will be sought.
Keynote speakers of the congress were Dr. Mehmet Öz and Hamdi Ulukaya and the honor speaker was our Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli (PhD) of our country which is the leader in the sector of especially the hazelnut and the other nuts.
140 PARTICIPANTS FROM TURKEY IN THE CONGRESS
In his opening speech, Minister Pakdemirli said, "As a country that has a significant share in the production and marketing of nuts and dried fruits in the world, we have 140 representatives and we are in Florida as the second largest group after the host, USA. Our agricultural exports in 2018 were $ 17.7 billion and $ 3 billion of these exports were obtained from nuts, dried fruits and their products. Considering agricultural production and trade, Turkey is one of the leading countries in the world," he said.
TURKEY IS THE LARGEST HAZELNUT PRODUCER OF THE WORLD
Indicating that Turkey is the top-level manufacturer and exporter of hazelnut, walnut, apricot, cherry, fig, olive, tobacco, and tea, Minister Pakdemirli said: "In particular, nuts have the largest share among all these products. In fact, Turkey is the world's largest hazelnut producer and provides more than 70% of the world's production."
In 2018, 85% of this product was exported and $ 1.6 billion in export revenue was obtained. We export hazelnuts and hazelnut products to more than 100 countries.The largest slice consists of the member states of the European Union.
TARGET: 1 MILLION TON HAZELNUT PRODUCTION IN THE MEDIUM TERM
Underlining that hazelnut is a very important product for Turkey with a coverage of nearly 25% of the agricultural exports, Minister Pakdemirli said: "That's why we set strategies and targets in the context of increasing productivity and quality in order to maintain our leadership position in the sector. Our primary objective is to increase hazelnut production to an average of 1 million tons in the medium term. In order to achieve this goal, new hazelnut gardens will be established, especially in degraded forest lands. Secondly, the old hazelnut gardens will be rejuvenated, R&D studies will focus on new hazelnut types and production of value-added products."
Stressing that they produced about 103,000 tons of dried apricots and it corresponded to 63% of world production, the Minister said: "It means that our country holds a significant portion of the dried apricot production in the World.".
TURKEY IS THE WORLD LEADER IN RAISIN PRODUCTION
The Minister mentioned the raisin production in his speech as well. "The world's raisin production is approximately 1.2 million tons and Turkey is at the position of world leader with the production of 280 thousand tons. In addition, Turkey is well placed at the top of raisin exports by $ 370 million. The biggest share in this export is of the seedless grape "Sultana" with a share of 95%." The Minister said.
In addition, Minister Pakdemirli emphasized that Dried Figs, Almonds and Pistachios are among the major export and production items for our country. In 2018, our production of Pistachio was 240 thousand tons, however, our production only meets our domestic consumption. Because all of the pistachios are used in Baklava production. I do not know how many of you had previously tasted Baklava, but it is a very famous and delicious Turkish dessert. I want everyone here to taste Baklava but please do it before the healthy diet speech of Dr. Öz," he said humorously.
FROM FIELD TO FORK, ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS ARE BEING MADE
At the end of his speech, the Minister stated that Turkey was aware of the consumers' demand for safe and high quality products and concluded: "In this context, from field to fork, making all the necessary arrangements, we assume all the necessary controls at every stage of production. As the Ministry, we show a maximum effort to meet the demand for shelled nuts and dried fruits and maintain production according to international standards."
During the three-day congress which will have many product-based sessions, the latest developments in the nuts and dried fruits sector will be handled in all aspects and the congress will end on May 25th.