TurkStat announced its 2008-2009 crop production statistics on Tuesday. According to the figures, around 3 percent of total production was lost during the production and harvest stages.Vegetable consumption per person in the stated period was 287.37 kg. Turkey exported 6.7 percent of its vegetable production, largely to the European markets, in the 2008-2009 period. The self-sufficiency level for vegetables was 106.91 percent in 2008 and 2009 combined. In other words, in those years, Turkey fulfilled all of its vegetable demand from domestic production -- with only just over 40,000 tons of imports. Turkey sold most of the remaining surplus to foreign markets.
The highest adequacy rate was for tomatoes, as the country’s farmers produced 12 percent more than what the Turkish consumers needed in the given period. The same rate was 11.6 percent for green peppers and 9.5 percent for cucumbers.
The amount of tomatoes produced in designated time period was 10.9 million tons. In addition, 1.8 million tons of green pepper, 4 million tons of watermelon and 1.74 million tons of sweet melon were produced in Turkey.
