Farmers Directed to Others Products Instead of Cotton
Şevket Uludağ who is the Speaker of Chamber of Yüreğir Agriculture which is the biggest farmers’ institution of Adana in which cotton planted areas have regressed to 300 thousands of decare from 500 thousands of decare, said that manufacturers directed to products whose risks were less like corn, wheat and soya due to the inadequacy of incentives although input costs raised at cotton. Uludağ who stated that last year’s cotton import reached about 800 thousands of tones in Turkey and in last 10 years about 15 billion dollars were paid for imported cotton, also said ‘’ Planting area have narrowed and our import increased. We are in need of the cotton of USA’’.
Şevket Uludağ who stated that manufacture didn’t suffice for cotton which was the need of industrialist although Turkey is a textile country, recorded that Turkey which ranks among the second range at cotton fibre productivity in the world, ranks among the second range in the world after China at import as well. Uludağ said ‘’We pay billions of dollars for cotton import. We cannot protect put cotton from USA cotton. USA farmers whose costs are less than us and are fed with more support sell their cotton Turkey without customs. The first thing to do is to take precautions for creating prices over the prime costs not to make manufacturers suffer whom we cannot protect at customs’’.
The Price of Cotton will Determine
Şahin Bilgiç who is the President of Adana Commodity Exchange Market said reduction at cotton manufacture recent years affected industrialist and cotton which is the mark of Adana provides important contribution to country economy. Bilgiç who stated that cotton unseed price and paying difference support need to be made attractive to increase the decreasing cotton price, also said the cotton price which will be determined this year has a crucial importance.
Bilgiç who said that they submitted the report they issued for the important government authorities, added his words ‘’ In the report we prepared, we expressed that the premiums which are given to cotton are low and it doesn’t have the potential of fetching money to the manufacturer and therefore consumers are at the position to escape from this’’. Bilgiç who expressed that cotton is not only important for Çukurova Region but also important for Turkey, said ‘’ Cotton needs to gain its old importance. With this, our foreign- source dependency will reduce. And therefore, cotton price must be raised to 1 TL level’’.
Better Cotton
Bilgiç who said that they carried out studies for Better Cotton for 3 years for sustainable cotton manufacture as being Adana Commodity Exchange Market, said ‘’Within this scope, cotton manufacture was carried out first in 2013 with 3 manufacturers and 4 cotton gin plants on 1, 850 decare of area and in 2014, 17 manufacturers and 4 cotton gin plants on 13 thousand 850 decare of area. And 2015, Better Cotton manufacture was realized on 24 thousands of decare area with 35 farmers and 6 cotton gin plants. In next time period, we will also make the sales of Better Cotton. With these works we will realize, we are planning to enable more productive, more quality and more environmental- friendly cotton manufacture by reducing the cotton manufacture inputs in local region’’.
