Poultry Meat and Feed Sector problems and its challenges during the epidemic process were discussed within the framework of COVID-19 Conferences organized by TGDF Academy. A large group of participants followed the conference, where the problems of the sector were identified and solution proposals were examined.
The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Poultry Meat and Feed Sector was discussed at TGDF Academy. The conference in which Sait Koca, President of the Board of Directors of Association of Poultry Industrialists and Breeders and Ülkü Karakuş, President of Turkish Feed Industrialists Association participated as speaker, was moderated by İlknur Menlik, General Secretary of TGDF.
Before his speech, Dr. Sait Koca celebrated 14 May World Farmers' Day and 10 May World Winged Day for all stakeholders.
“We have not left the shelves empty."
Stating that we have not left the shelves empty, Dr. Koca continued "We said in a statement that there would be no disruption. Many countries around the world such as the United States and the United Kingdom have had problems in the supply of poultry meat.
Normally, we increase production in April. The picnic season and Ramadan are the factors in this. In this respect, we were caught in the pandemic with a high production. The curfew hit us hard as we tried to balance production surplus. During the days of curfew, we could not sell the animals and we had a lot of stock."
“Our employees deserve thanks”
Mentioning the devotion of food sector employees, Dr. Koca said "Our biggest happiness is that our employees have given us a lot of support during this period and continue to give. I would like to extend my thanks to them all. Food workers deserve great appreciation after the healthcare professionals ”.
After the emergence of the pandemic, we were very happy with the decisions taken by our Health and Trade Ministries about not disrupting the exports to Iraq, the country where we exported the most.
In this period, TMO continued its support to the sector without any disruption. It made great efforts to keep grain prices in balance.
Mentioning the studies of TGDF, Dr. Koca stated "They have carried out very successful studies and continue new studies. I would like to thank the TGDF Board of Directors and all its employees for their work. "
“The whole world understands the importance of the food sector”
Mentioning the importance of the food sector, Turkey Feed Industrialists' Association President Ülkü Karakuş said the following in his speech:
“There is an Indian proverb that people will learn that money is not eaten. In this period, everyone understood this. We knew how important our industry was. Now the world realizes it.
Fortunately, we are a country that exports flour, pasta, milk and dairy products, chicken and turkey meat, fish and eggs. This is one of the main reasons why we do not have problems in food supply during COVID-19. We export dairy products to around 100 countries, fish products to 80 countries, flour and pasta to more than 120 countries, chicken and turkey to nearly 80 countries and eggs to 30 countries. I think that Turkey will not have any problems in these products and that consumers should be calm. "
“VAT on food should be reduced to 1 percent”
Stating that the discourse that agricultural products increase food prices is wrong, Karakuş said, "When we look at household expenditures, there are many households living on 350 – 400 dollars at the moment. Food constitutes the biggest expenditure item in these households. , I propose lowering VAT on all food products from 8 per cent to 1 per cent.