Miller Magazine Issue: 112 April 2019

90 INTERVIEW APRIL 2019 • In order to stimulate demand in our sales, we started to implement maturity from November. • In order to generalize our retails sale that is 20-40 percent lower than the market price at 150 sale points and to ensure people can consume pulses with affordable prices, we have re- ached an agreement with PTT and started e-trade. • We supplied chickpeas and green lentils to the regulated sale points under the Fight Against Inflation Program. • So far we have sold 7 thousand tons of chickpeas and 4 thousand tons of green lentils. We are close to wheat harvest. World grain production is expected to decrease. What about Turkey? What is the prediction about wheat production? Last year there was a problem with quality. How is the view so far this season? Although the world wheat production fell in 2018/19 sea- son, the production figures are expected to recover in the new season. The first estimates for the 2019/20 season indicate that world wheat production will increase by 15 million tons and will reach to 751 million tons. In this context, no shrink in wheat supply is expected in the world in the upcoming season. In our country, the bad weather conditions experienced in the previous year did not take place this season. If the weather conditions go normal during the spring terms, we can say that our production will be at the same level as the previous year. In 2018, 20 million tons of wheat and 7 million tons of barley were produced. Seeding for winter wheat has been completed while planting for summer recently started. For the 2019 production season, there will be a bit decrease in wheat plantation while there will be an increase in barley plantation. For production, the rainfall in the spring, state of the clima- te and conscious farming will be decisive. For the forthcoming process, producers are recommended to carry out top fertiliza- tion, weed, and fight against sunn pest, which negatively affe- cts the wheat quality in Turkey. In 2018, based on the climate and farming, there will be a decrease in protein and hectoliter in bread and durum wheat compared to the previous year. Also, there will be a bit increase in sunn pest’s damage. Turkish Grain Board switched to purchasing based on quality since 2011, and with the effect of this practice, although wheat