The Introductory meeting, the first one of the occasions organized as part of “International Year of Pulses 2016” and hosted by The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, was held in Ankara.

The first occasion for “International Year of Pulses 2016” was held in Ankara and hosted by The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Mehdi Eker, FAO Turkey representative Yukiro Shoji, TMO Chairman and Managing Director Mesut Köse, TZOB Managing Director Şemsi Bayraktar, Head of National Pulses Council Mahmut Arslan, Head of World Pulses Organization Hakan Bahçeci, Nutritionist Prof. Dr. Ayşe Baysal and lots of guests attended the meeting held in the assembly hall of The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.
Giving a speech in the meeting, The Minister Eker stated as follows: “dry pulses are cultivated on the land of 806 thousand hectare in total. Our dry pulses production has increased 20 percent in the last 6 years.” The Minister Eker who specified that they will point the importance of pulses through the organizations said: “Anatolia is the motherland of pulses. This is our responsibility. Pulses play an important role in our lives. We will tell the world all the precautions possible for a year.”
“WORLD PRODUCES 66 MILLION TONS OF PULSES”
The Minister Eker emphasized that they are preparing prepare an action plan under 3 titles for International Year of Pulses 2016, and stated that first of them is to increase the production via R&D studies, second is to increase the consumption, third is to promote pulses. The Minister, highlighting the need for a new nutrition culture and saying “The nutrition formula of mankind will appear on this geography in the 21st century”, informed: “66 million tons of pulses are produced on 73 million hectares in the world. India, China, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Myanmar are the leading countries in world pulses production. It is a product group with 40 billion dollar value in the market. Turkey is the 3rd in lentil production, 4th in chickpea production, and 23rd in dry bean production. Our share is 1 percent in world pulses production and 3 percent in world trade. Pulses are the second largest product group among seeds in Turkey. Dry pulses production is realized on 806 thousand hectare in total. In the last 6 years, our dry pulses production increased 20 percent.”
“WE INCREASED THE SUBSIDY 100 PERCENT”
The Minister Eker, mentioning supports continue for pulses production, expressed these: “We have paid 446 million lira as subsidy since 2008. We increased the subsidy for the products of 2015 100 percent. We will increase the support for certificated seeds in pulses 20 percent. With these supports, we will cover 27 percent of the costs for lentil and 18 percent for chickpea. If a lentil producer spends 100 lira, he takes 27 lira from us as support. We provide grant for supporting investments in progress, processing pulses under IPARD and investing in packaging. We have paid 38,4 million lira for 168 pulses project here. We granted 40 million lira in total for 173 projects about pulses.