Minister's support for eco-friendly production opening to the world from Fethiye

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, within the scope of his Muğla program, last visited the Beneficial Insect Production Facility operating under Günal Biological Agriculture. The visit was attended by Muğla Governor İdris Akbıyık, Fethiye District Governor Fatih Akkaya, AK Party Muğla MP Yakup Otgöz, Seydikemer Mayor Önder Akdenizli, AK Party Fethiye District Chairman Kadir Sarıhan, and the district organization. Minister Yumaklı toured the facility with the accompanying delegation and examined the ongoing work on site.

“By 2026, we will have achieved 140 million tons of plant production”

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated that Turkey is preparing for a significant success in plant production, saying, "The importance of plant production in Turkey for our food security is extremely great. With this year's rainfall also going well, as we have previously expressed, God willing, in 2026 we will have achieved significant plant production with a record of 140 million tons. Of course, while doing all this, different challenges, problems, and issues may arise before us. The most important of these is pests."

"Climate change increases pest pressure"

Drawing attention to the effects of climate change on agricultural production, Minister Yumaklı emphasized that pest control is becoming increasingly important day by day, stating, "One of the effects of climate change is the increase of pests, changes in their resistance, or their appearance at previously unseen times, negatively affecting our plant production. As Turkey, we are a transit point for pests both due to our geopolitical position and our latitudinal location. Many methods are used in pest control. Among these, the most important issue to pay attention to is the use of pesticides only as needed and in a controlled manner."

"Correct use of pesticides is of great importance"

Minister Yumaklı said that the use of agricultural chemicals is sometimes necessary for producers to be able to produce quality and efficient production, but this must be done in a controlled manner, stating, "To produce your product efficiently and with quality, you need to keep pests away from the area where you produce. For this, agricultural chemicals, namely pesticides, can be used from time to time. However, especially in the products we export, sometimes there are returns due to pesticide residues. On this issue, the ministry implements the Residue Action Plan. We are determinedly continuing this plan in our 15 provinces where vegetable and fruit production is intensive. All the work we have done is reducing the negativities in pesticide use day by day."

“We started the B Prescription application as of July 1”

Minister Yumaklı, who also touched on the new application for the controlled use of plant protection products, stated that a new era has begun in the sale of agricultural pesticides, saying, "We started the B Prescription application as of July 1. Just like with human medicines, we have implemented an application that makes it possible to sell and use agricultural pesticides through a certain system to prevent their uncontrolled use. Our producers have given us very strong support on this matter. I thank them."

“We Reduced the Rate of Products Returned from Export by 74%”

Minister Yumaklı, stating that the measures taken have yielded significant results, said that Turkey has achieved an important success in combating pesticide residues, "Thanks to all these efforts, in the last five years, we have reduced the rate of products returned from export by 74%. This is a very important and great success. We achieved this together. However, our goal is not limited to this. We want to further reduce this rate both in exports and domestic production. The most important way to do this is to further expand environmentally friendly biological and biotechnical control methods," he said.

"We provided 1.9 billion liras in support for biological and biotechnical control"

Stating that the Ministry has provided significant support to promote nature-friendly methods instead of chemical control, Minister Yumaklı said that biological and biotechnical control practices have been strengthening every year, adding, "In this context, in the last 15 years, we have provided 1.9 billion liras in support for biological and biotechnical control, which means producing the natural enemies of pests instead of agricultural chemicals and removing them from plant production areas. We will continue to provide support. Not only certain institutions, but all units of our Ministry are involved in this struggle. Especially our general directorate that conducts R&D activities and our 9 research institutes affiliated with TAGEM carry out very important studies on brown stink bugs, citrus pests, and Mediterranean fruit flies."

“Billions of lira losses prevented with predatory insects”

Yumaklı stated that beneficial insects, natural enemies of pests, are produced in research institutes, and emphasized that biological control also contributes significantly to the economy, saying, "In our institutes, predatory insects, natural enemies of pests, are bred. Thanks to the integrated control carried out especially in hazelnuts, according to our calculations, approximately 9 billion lira of damage has been prevented. The Mediterranean fruit fly was once one of our biggest problems in fruit production. We have achieved great success in this regard. However, it can be seen again from time to time. We will continue our fight against this pest without allowing any relaxation."

“Our young entrepreneur has written a success story by reducing imports and increasing exports”

Minister Yumaklı, expressing that he is especially proud that the facility he visited was established by a young entrepreneur, emphasized the strategic importance of domestic beneficial insect production for Turkey and said, "Having a strong public infrastructure and providing resources for plant production is certainly important. But we want our private sector to also play a strong role in this struggle. The business we are in is operated by a very young brother, our brother Ali. Since his student years, he set beneficial insect production as a goal, and today he is successfully carrying it out. He now produces locally some beneficial insects that we previously imported from abroad. He has achieved many firsts in this field. As the Ministry, we will always stand by him and continue to support him."

"Local production is now being exported worldwide"

Yumaklı, stating that Turkey has become a country not only meeting its own needs but also exporting, said they want the facility to achieve international success, "The production here is not only for our own plant production. There is also a sibling who reduces imports and has succeeded in exporting to different countries around the world today. We are proud of this. I also thank our Ministry of Industry and Technology. With TÜBİTAK support, we will continue to spread this model to different regions of Turkey. We will continue to provide all the support we can to make it a firm that is influential, expert, and strong not only in our country but also internationally."

“Agriculture is now a sector where young people see a future”

Minister Yumaklı, who stated that the perception that agriculture is not preferred by young people has begun to change, expressed that the value brought to the sector by young entrepreneurs increases day by day. At the end of his speech, Minister Yumaklı thanked the producers and Ministry staff, wishing a successful harvest season, and concluded his words as follows: "I thank all my brothers who labor in agricultural production, support it, and are involved in this sector. I also especially thank my colleagues who work with great dedication at every level of our Ministry. The harvest season is ongoing. Hopefully, it will be a beneficial, auspicious, and abundant harvest season for all our producers."