The Food Warehouse of the World Wrote the Book of Organic Farming

Aegean Exporters' Associations, which have a large share and importance in the production and export of organic products in the Aegean Region, especially Izmir, supported the Ecological Agriculture Organization (ETO) Association, one of the leading organizations of organic agriculture in the world, and ensured that innovations in the field of organic agriculture were transferred to stakeholders.

EİB Organic Products and Sustainability Coordinator, President of the Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Association, Mehmet Ali Işık, one of the founders of the Ecological Agriculture Organization Association, said, “Organic production and exports in Turkey started 35 years ago in Izmir under the leadership of the Aegean Exporters Association. As Aegean exporters, which realize 75 percent of our country's organic product exports, we invest in many sustainability projects in cooperation with both the academy and our national/international stakeholders. We aim to better announce our experiences, knowledge and goals to the whole of Turkey with our book on organic agriculture, which we published in cooperation with ETO. "ETO has been an ecological producer for 30 years, and is one of our main stakeholders that creates added value by embracing all segments of society, from producers to exporters, from universities to consumers, adopting the development and adoption of products and organic agriculture as a principle." said.

Işık said, “Turkey is the world leader in organic products such as grapes, figs, apricots, hazelnuts, cherries and sour cherries. The global organic food market will approach 2022 billion euros in 135. Currently, our organic exports are around 1,6 billion dollars with a production of 1 million tons. Our export target is to reach 1,5 billion dollars in the first stage and then 2 billion dollars. "Our country, which produces 268 different products from dried fruits to olive oil, from grains to cotton, organically on 311 thousand hectares of land, ranks 53th in Europe with approximately 4 thousand organic product farmers." said.

President Işık said, “As the Aegean Exporters' Association, we are responsible as the coordinator union for recording organic product exports. We are a member of the Turkish organic agriculture national steering committee and IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement. "Our Organic Products Working Committee, which we established under the umbrella of the Aegean Exporters' Association, aims to bring together all sector stakeholders and we carry out various studies to expand organic food production and demand in the domestic market and to increase the competitiveness and recognition of the sector in the foreign market." he said.