Turkey Seed Growers Association (TURKTOB) Chairman Savas Akcan: “Seed is the most strategic production item in agricultural production. We categorize every seed, seedling and other variation under the general name of the seed. When we look at the seed production in Turkey, we grow 4 billion USD worth of seeds and add nearly 10 billion USD of value to our national economy. We have exported 260 million USD worth of seeds in 2018 and imported 240 million USD worth of seeds. This is the first time our national exports have exceeded our imports. Currently, our growers are exporting seeds to 80 countries. Our goal is to increase our seed exports to 500 million USD in 2023.
Our growers have produced 1.06 million tons of certified seeds, 190 million fruit seedlings, 4 billion vegetable seedlings, and 1.7 billion ornamental plant seedlings last year. In the last 10 years, our production in certified seeds went up by 366 % whereas seedling production went up by 52 %. Additionally, ornamental plant seedling production has increased by 15 %. Our association has currently 50,000 members and we are working tirelessly to increase our exports and decrease our imports to cut down our dependency on foreign products.”
Source: Yeni Safak