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TURKIYE AGRICULTURE
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Turkish Agroindustry
Rapid growth occurred throughout the 1980s, led to the rapid development in
agroindustry and resurgence of both domestic and foreign investment in Turkey.
Reform realised in the foreign exchange system left exporters largely free of
restrictions in international transactions. Trade policies, which included tax
rebates, export credits and credit subsidies, also enhanced export performance
of the sector.
Turkish agroindustry brings together the producers of varying status and size.
They range from small individual units and small and large cooperatives, to
multi-national organisations. Also important are the small to modest-sized
specialists and craft businesses which offer limited but high quality products,
often using traditional methods and recipes.
Turkey has an age-old tradition of preserving food, which for a long period was
based on salting and drying methods. Availability of almost all kinds of fruits
and vegetables and the favourable environmental conditions which led to grow
them in ample quantity and highest quality, have formed a strong base for the
improvement of the Turkish fruit and vegetable preservation industries.
Nowadays, the plants placed in the different foodproducing area employ advanced
preservation techniques and use the most sophisticated and attractive types of
packaging.
Although it is quite a new sector in Turkey, the frozen fruits and vegetables
industry has undergone various remarkable changes and is one of the important
exportoriented (75-80% of the amount produced is exported) food sectors. The
growth registered in the sector can be totally attributed to the increasing
foreign demand since the domestic consumption has yet not reached a sizeable
quantity. Dehydrated vegetable industry is a minor branch of the Turkish
agroindustry but a remarkable development is expected in the near future due to
both the availability of raw materials and the new investments in the industry.
Turkish fruit juice and concentrates industry started its production in the late
1960’s and this brand-new export oriented industry has flourished rapidly due to
modern production units, new investments and strong support of abundant fresh
fruit production. Tomato processing industry is the pioneering sector in food
processing industry. Generally the biggest share in the exports of processed
vegetables and fruits belongs to tomato paste and today worldwide all importers
know its quality. Although the dominant traditional processing line is tomato
paste processing, peeled and diced tomatoes are the other promising products for
Turkey as well.
Despite its fragmented structure, Turkey is the largest producer of dairy
products in the region. The rich varieties of cheese have made Turkey one of the
preferred suppliers of this product. Besides the traditional cheeses, which are
mainly Otlu Cheese, Tulum Cheeses, Urfa Cheese, White cheese, salinized
Diyarbakır Örgü Cheese and etc., other types of products that are demanded
internationally, are also produced. Among these products Mozzarella, Kashkaval
and White Cheese have special importance in Turkish foreign trade.
Turkey also has a highly developed meat and poultry products sector because of
being one of the major countries in the world as far as the number of animals is
concerned. Domestic consumption of poultry meat in Turkey has grown most
quickly, displacing the traditional meats such as lamb, mutton and goat. The
poultry products also dominate the exports of this sector.
Because of her vast agricultural potential, oilseeds have always been one of the
important sectors of Turkish agriculture. Several vegetable oils such as
sunflower oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil hazelnut oil and etc. are
ainly produced in Turkey. Having the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Sea,
Turkey has been one of the major producers of olives among Mediterranean
countries. Therefore, olive oil traditions and olive oil dishes have always been
the pride of Turkish culture since the time of the Ottomans. Today, Turkey is
supplying the olive oil of Mediterranean cuisine all over the world.
The sugar and chocolate confectionery sector in Turkey is historically based on
the production of the traditional Turkish confectionery products such as Turkish
delight and halva. The sector has become one of the most important subsectors of
the food industry using modern technology together with the traditional
production methods. The Turkish sugar and chocolate confectionery sector has the
most advanced technology in the Middle East, Balkans, North Africa, Baltics and
Central Asia. The products are more widely diversified and of a higher quality.
Major items produced in the industry include various types of candies, chewing
gum, Turkish delight, halva, chocolate-coated products and various types of
chocolates.
Wheat flour, bread, macaroni, biscuits, pastries, semolina and cracked wheat
characterise the pastry and milling industry sector in Turkey. Wheat flour,
macaroni and biscuits are those which accelerated Turkish food industry exports
especially with the increase achieved since 1990.
Nowadays consumers are becoming increasingly interested in environmentally sound
products, because of continuously expanding awareness. Thus, the desire for
healthy life has oriented consumers towards healthy food and organic
agricultural products. Turkey is one of the best-suited countries in the world
for rganic cultivation. This is not only due to her ecological and
climatological conditions but also due to the use of more traditional
agricultural methods. Although organic farming and in-conversion land constitute
a small portion of total agricultural land, organic agriculture, which was
mainly concentrated in Aegean region in 1985, has expanded in all regions. The
number of farmers dealing with organic agriculture and the variety of organic
products in Turkey is also increasing year by year. Today around 90 kinds of
agricultural products are organically produced in Turkey and shipped abroad
pioneering with raisins, dried apricots, dried figs and hazelnuts.
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