Turkey Seed Producers Association (TURKTOB), the only sectoral organization in this area, was founded in 2006 and currently has 50,000 members. Recent numbers announced by the organization indicate that this industry produces nearly 4 billion USD worth of value for the national economy. When other commercial functions and related industries are added to the calculation, the industry’s annual contribution reaches 10 billion USD.
TURKTOB Chairman Savas Akcan: “The global annual seed production is estimated to be worth 50 billion USD. Turkey is 11th in the global market with a production value of 750 million USD. Our goal is to reach 1.5 million certified seeds and 250 million USD worth of exports. Our industry has, for the first time in its history, a trade surplus in 2018. We had a 20 million USD trade surplus in 2018 and we are working hard to increase this surplus even further in 2019. In 2018, 1.06 million tons of certified seeds were produced in our country. A total of 2.8 million seeds were used in our country. Our production covers around 40% of our growers’ needs. We will have a major breakthrough if we can increase the use of certified seeds to levels similar to developed countries.
"As an association, we are working to develop more domestic and national varieties and to use more domestic seeds in agricultural production. As a result, we were able to manage the introduction of 171 domestic seed varieties to our national gene pool.
"The Growtech Trade Fair is one of the most important events in the industry. It brings all of the important companies in the Turkish agricultural industry together whilst also attracting a lot of individual visitors. A lot of seed and greenhouse companies were able to expand their network and create new business opportunities at this fair. Especially visiting delegations from abroad prove to be very fruitful for our networks, and our growers were able to establish a lot of commercial relations with these countries afterward."
Growtech Fair Director Engin Er: “Seed production has major strategic importance for our country. Our growers are exporting to 80 countries and our annual export volume last year was 260 million USD. Our goal is to create new business opportunities for our exhibitors and visitors. We are expecting over 90,000 visitors from 130 countries in 2019 in addition to 85 exhibitors from 30 different countries. We also have a special 'Purchase Delegation Program' where our exporters will have the opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with buyers from abroad.”
The Growtech fair has been organized since 2000 in Antalya, where 42% of all the greenhouses in Turkey are located. This year the fair will take place in the Antalya Expo Center between the 27th and 30th of November on an area of 50,000 square meters. There are 5 main groups of exhibitors in the exhibition, “Seed Growers”, “Greenhouse and Irrigation Technologies”, “Plant Nutrition and Preservation”, “Tractors and other Agricultural Equipment” and “Livestock Production Products and Equipment”. The fair will also host the 12th ATSO Growtech Agricultural Innovation Awards.
Source: Malatya Sonsoz