Miller Magazine Issue: 155 November 2022

81 INTERVIEW MILLER / NOVEMBER 2022 When evaluating the process, I think one should look at Türkiye’s story about wheat first. This story goes back centu- ries. Wheat is a legacy left to us by the Mesopotamian Plain... We have understood how critical wheat is for the world during the Covid-19 pandemic process and the subsequent Rus- sia-Ukraine crisis that we are experiencing. Of course, we are in a process of anxiety due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is still going on in the breadbasket of the world and we do not know what will happen. Apart from the destruction that this war will cause, it also brings reality to the concepts of food safety and food security, which we already see as a danger. Wheat stands out more than other grains in this sense. As TFIF, we have been constantly expressing our views to the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) and the Ministry of Agriculture about not neglecting wheat, revealing its importance with special support to be given to wheat, and raising awareness among farmers on this issue. This year’s policies specific to wheat made the industrialists and farmers happy. As you know, we had an extreme drought last year. This drought, the problems brought by the climate crisis, geopo- litical risks and the Covid-19 process did not allow wheat to reach the value it deserves. This year, although the concerns we experienced last year have changed shape, we had a chance to take a deep breath thanks to our fertile harvest season and the accurate policies implemented by our gov- ernment. ‘WE WILL NOT HAVE A PROBLEM IN THE SUPPLY OF WHEAT IN THE 2022-2023 SEASON’ In the meetings we held with the representatives of the Min- istry of Agriculture and TMO in the 2022-2023 season, we saw how important wheat is, that they approach it with this understanding, and we discussed what we can do about it. TMO’s 1000 TRY premium support for the purchase price also created awareness among our farmers. The base price given by the government for wheat this year is 6450 TRY. This was increased to 7450 TRY with TMO’s 1000 TRY premium. This showed us all how valuable a stra- tegic product is and the extraordinary importance given to wheat. We are very happy with this move by the government and TMO and the fact that our advice was taken on this issue. This created great awareness in terms of food security and food safety in our country. This awareness has also enabled our country’s farmers to have a positive orientation towards wheat by eliminating the concerns of our farmers about the search for alternative products for the future. This gave us great hope for the future. This year, I predict that there will be a 30 percent increase in wheat cultivation areas. Moreover, if both planting and yield can be increased, wheat is brought