Miller Magazine Issue: 115 July 2019

66 INTERVIEW MILLER / JULY 2019 under 7 million hectares according to indicators like fertilizer usage and direct information from farmers. Production of summer substitutes of wheat is going to substantially increase. Do you have concerns because of those data? Of course. I do have concerns. The wheat is a tra- ditional and strategic product of this region. We have concerns about wheat production in terms of both the yield and the quality. There are many research and development pro- jects for seeds that are resilient to drought or heavy rainfalls in the world. Do you also have this kind of projects? Yes we do. We develop varieties for arid lands or farms that have irrigation means. The wheat is a very complex plant that have many varieties. The seed sector is among few areas that have been constantly improving within the agriculture industry. Our sector is also studying the effects of the cli- mate change. We cannot say that we are fully ready but we are aware of this issue. So our breeders and seed companies are conducting researches. This is a long process. Turkish seed sector is very young. Its legislation was done in 2006 and the sector started operations in 2008. Producing seeds of self pollinating plants like grains is more difficult than others. Its profit margin is not so high. As a result, grow rate is lower. Normally, devel- oping a new variety for wheat could take 15 years. But there are new technologies like bio-technology, molecular marker technology and so on. Ata Tohum- culuk and some other national companies have been utilizing those technologies and I can give you the good news that new varieties are coming soon. To what extent grain seeds are domestically pro- duced? Most of them are produced domestically but im- ported varieties are also being used after being reg- istered. So they are also considered as domestic products. This is also the case when our seeds are exported and planted in foreign countries. WHEAT IMPORTS ARE AS A RESULT OF LOW PRICE POLICY Turkish flour industrialists grind imported wheat for producing the flour for foreign markets. Is it possible to supply domestically produced flour that meets their quality needs? I have to clarify one point. Flour industrialists only motive for wheat imports is not the quality. Wheat with higher quality is being grown in Turkey. It is main- ly about price policy. Domestic prices are higher and flour industrialists cannot compete at international markets if they use domestically produced wheat. So they have to import cheaper wheat the compete. It is not a result of quality of our seeds or wheat varieties. How do you evaluate subsidies for Turkish farm- ers? They are not good enough. Farmers have defi- nitely difficulties. They cannot make profit. Most of the farmers grow wheat in Turkey. Let’s assume that they sell their products for 1000 Turkish liras. But this price came to 1500 to 1600 Turkish liras after they sell them all. Indeed, increased prices make farmers to cultivate wheat to some extent. Wheat cultiva- tion areas might be more shrunk. Because, farmers made a loss at the time they sold the product. Farm- ers should be protected against the market players. The government should develop some instruments to protect them. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that their wheat production target for 2023 is 22 million tons. How do you evaluate this statement? It is not impossible to reach this target. Turkey achieved this production amount some years ago. We have to increase wheat cultivation areas above 7,5 million hectares to realize it. Can declaration of purchase prices and subsidies encourage wheat production? Purchase price declarations seem imaginary from farmers’ viewpoint. When prices were declared; bar- ley was being sold for 1400 Turkish liras and wheat for 1600 to 1700 Turkish liras. But now these prices are lower than their market value. In addition to that, fertilizer costs have been increased by 100 percent. There are disastrous cost increases for pesticides. You already know about diesel fuel. So, you have to develop support programs and some helpful instru- ments. We have to prevent further partitioning of farms. We have to find more profitable usage methods of farms. We have to prevent misuse of agriculture lands. Our soil is not so fertile. Our region is arid and weather conditions are unstable. Turkey cannot give up wheat or barley production. We have to retain current culti- vation areas.