Turkey’s Chambers of Agriculture Union (TZOB) Chairman Semsi Bayraktar, announced that an increase is expected in the production of pistachios, and to prevent a drop in prices, exports need to be increased. Bayraktar, in a written statement, stresses that in the years 2013 and 2014 the pistachio harvest experienced a decline, but this year 150,000-160,000 tons of production is expected.
Fluctuations in production lead to instability in price, states Bayraktar. “An increase in pistachio production is expected and to prevent prices from falling too much, export channels need to be enforced.” The three countries producing the most pistachios are Iran, the USA and Turkey; the three countries’ production equates to almost 83.4% of total pistachio nut production.
Pistachios are grown in 41 of Turkey’s provinces and a very large part of production comes from the southeast Anatolia region. Bayraktar describes the situation: “According to the Turkish Statistical Institutes’s data from 2014, Sanliurfa was first for production with 21,494 tons. First in number of trees is Gaziantep which produces 17,231 tons, followed by Siirt with 15,228 tons. Amongst the people there is a common misconception that inadequate irrigation systems led to a decline in pistachio production. Pistachio trees do not like a high level of ground watering. Pistachio production according to traditional methods should be left behind and irrigation to increase the quality and yield should be considered.”
Bayraktar reports that illegally smuggled Iranian pistachios entering Turkey left farmers in a difficult situation, in this regard he wants appropriate measures to be taken. Referring to the importance of providing support for established nut orchards, which are having to close Bayraktar concludes, “Pistachios can be stored for a long time and high quality products can be found on the market at any moment, in order to assure price stability and a sufficient income for our growers, it is necessary to establish licensed warehousing and product specialization exchanges.”
Source: hurriyet.com.tr
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét