World Farmers' Day Message from Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, TGİ Chairman

“We are a country that does not have a foreign trade deficit in cereals”

Today is the day of all our farmers who bring fertility to the soil, transform their labor into production and bring life to our tables. As we celebrate World Farmers' Day, we pay tribute to Türkiye's agricultural production capacity and the heroes behind this power, our farmers.

With a population of 85 million and fertile soil, Türkiye continues to be an important actor in world food production. With an annual wheat production of 21.5 million tons, Türkiye provides approximately 250 kilograms of wheat per capita, far above the world average. As the world export champion since 2015 with 3.5 million tons of wheat flour exports to 164 countries, Türkiye makes significant contributions to global food security in strategic products such as cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

Behind these achievements lie not only climatic conditions or soil fertility, but also the labor of our producers and the determination of our state. Our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry continued to stand by our producers with direct support payments exceeding 90 billion TL in 2024. In 2025, these supports are expected to reach 135 billion TL. These supports are of great importance in terms of ensuring the sustainability of agricultural production, increasing quality and maintaining price stability through production planning.

In the past years, global economic fluctuations, the climate crisis and increases in production costs have made the difficulties faced by our farmers even more evident. However, thanks to the right decisions taken by our government and the policies of the Turkish Grain Board focused on protecting producers against cost increases, our farmers were able to continue producing during this challenging period. These supports, which are provided to protect our domestic producers against fluctuations in global food prices and to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production, are of strategic importance for our country's food security.

Türkiye's success in agriculture is not limited to production volumes. Our sector, which increases our exports with value-added products, gains an important place in the global market with high value-added products such as biscuits, pasta, cocoa products, oilseeds and spices, and also accounts for one-third of Türkiye's exports of agriculture-based products. Türkiye is proud to be a country that does not have a foreign trade deficit in this field while producing customized solutions for the food needs of segments with different cultures and purchasing power from different geographies around the world.

Today, as we once again appreciate the strength of our agricultural sector and the hard work of our farmers, we look to the future with hope. We will continue to work together for more fertile lands, stronger farmers and a more sustainable agricultural sector. We congratulate all our farmers on World Farmers' Day and express our gratitude to all our producers who feed our country with their labor.