Pesticides are fueling Turkey’s agriculture boom, and crop protection usage is being engineered to expand quickly. The crop protection market has doubled in the last 10 years, and its agricultural expansion is expected to drive a corollary increase in pesticides.

“For sure crop protection is one of the most crucial inputs in Turkey’s agriculture system,” Ministry of Agriculture Deputy Director General Dr. Nevzat Birisik told me at his office in July. “We are currently cultivating 160 different plant species here, and we have 553 pests to control. So we are in the process of drafting and implementing new regulations on prescriptions, record keeping and professional applicators to increase plant protection on farms.”

New rules will create more widespread and quicker access to products for farmers, who require prescriptions to purchase crop protection products. Currently, about 10,000 extension specialists and crop consultants are permitted to write prescriptions. The draft rules, being crafted by Birisik’s General Directorate of Food and Control, will triple the number of individuals authorized to write prescriptions in the next three years.

Retailers will constitute more than half of the additional prescription writers. Currently, Turkey’s estimated13,000 agriculture product retailers are not authorized to write prescriptions, but the new rules will enable them to do so.

“We know that retailers are active in the growing areas and do extension-type work for them, so this change will enable them to be full-service consultants on crops, pests and products.”
The remaining 7,000 prescription capacity will come from additional extension workers, crop consultants and private agronomists. To encourage participation, the MoA is replacing a rather ominous test with training classes that will result in certification.

The MoA is also reclassifying its pesticides based on residue limits. With EU countries as a primary trading partner, adherence to REACH maximum residue limits is essential for the country’s agriculture exports. The Ministry is currently collecting residue data on crops and crop protection products to determine whether a product will be considered a plant health product or plant protection product.

This reclassification using MRLs will allow farmers to apply plant health products, some biological products and traditional chemistries that don’t produce significant residues without a prescription. Products that are classified as plant protection products will still require a prescription, and it is likely that any crop destined for sale in the EU will require prescriptions regardless of the products being used.

The regulatory changes coupled with a carefully engineered crop subsidy program create enormous opportunity for Turkish agriculture and the companies that supply them with crop inputs. The list of reasons driving optimism about the country’s potential is practically limitless, says Harun Kipge, director of TISIT, the organization of post-patent crop protection formulators and distributors.

“It has the biggest population in Europe,” Kipge says. “There are 30 to 35 million tourists coming to Turkey each year. There are seven flights a day in peak season to Antalya from Moscow. Turkey is a very strategic area logistically – it is the bridge from Europe to Asia. Population, income and agriculture crop exportation are all increasing. The government is targeting a near-double agricultural crop production (to $125 billion) in 2023 for Turkey’s 100-year celebration, and much of it is being driven by subsidies. Sunflower, wheat and cotton are all being subsidized depending on the year.”

Push for New Products

Turkey’s subsidy program targets crops according to national need. If production in wheat drops in a given year for whatever reason, it is likely to bolster the subsidy to replenish stocks or capitalize on strong prices. Organic farmers and those who practice integrated pest management and good agricultural practices qualify for additional subsidies, and fertilizer and fuel subsidies are available as well.

But the main reason for the subsidies, Birisik says, is to offer farmers incentives to cultivate crops that are suitable for their respective agronomic zones to bolster production, farm incomes and ultimately, food security.

“Food security and GDP exports are incredibly important for Turkey,” Birisik says.
Turkey’s subsidies are frequently offered for cotton, wheat, soybeans, lentils, barley, rye, corn and canola.

The EU is a crucial export market for these goods, which is why MRL management and IPM practices are so heavily prioritized in Turkey. The country has essentially adopted REACH standards, and banned 181 chemistries during the last five years to comply with resolution 91/414.

Kipge, who is also president of Agrofarm, a distributor based in Istanbul, says his product portfolio has been reduced from more than 500 registrations before Turkey adopted EU rules to about 200 registrations today.

Turkey’s EU trade reality, along with the subsidy program for low-toxicity products, is encouraging distributors to develop new and novel product lines.
At Safa Tarim, the country’s largest distributor with 2,800 retailer clients and about 450 registrations, research and development has become core to its business. Safa Tarim launched an R&D department two years ago upon building its new 110,000 square-foot formulation and research facility in Konya.

The goal behind the expansion was to create more efficient and effective premix products, new formulations and emerging biotechnical and biopesticide products to evolve with changing regulatory standards. The new R&D team has filed for six patent applications in two year.
The push for new products and formulations revolves around farmer needs, including pest pressures and farm efficiency. Safa Tarim spends a significant amount of time and money creating product use guides, pest identification manuals and live continuing education for farmers and retailers. In that way, the 40-year old company has been able to grow with the emergence of successful farming operations throughout the country, says Safa Tarim Business Development Manager Halil Ibrahim Buyukegen.

“We are focused on mixing not only with the lowest toxicity, but also premium formulations that use microencapsulation and controlled release so we can provide the exact dosage for the best efficacy for the farmer,” Buyukegen says. “Turkish farmers are very knowledgeable, but they need help understanding new technologies. We provide technical education for our sales staff, which can then go out and educate farmers. It is how we continually prove that we offer the best quality products and grower information.”

Turkey at a Glance:

■    Total crop protection market: $450-500 million
■    Domestic formulation capacity: 500,000 tonnes
■    Domestic consumption: 54,000 tonnes
■    Major crops: Major commodity crops are cotton, wheat and barley. Also the world’s No. 1 producer of hazelnuts, figs, apricots and pomegranates; No. 2 producer of cherries and green peppers; No. 3 producer of tomatoes, eggplant, chick peas and lentils.
■    Agriculture production value: $62 billion
■    Agriculture export value: $15 billion

Top herbicides: 2,4-D, trifluralin, nicosulfuron, paraquat, glyphosate, acetochlor
Top insecticides: imidacloprid, acetamiprid, emamectin benzoate, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, lambda cyhalothrin, thiodicarb, hexythiazox, abamectin, spirodiclofen
Top fungicides: mancozeb, methalaxyl, Bordeaux mix, tebuconazole, azoxystrobin, cyprodinil
Other: PGRs, molluscicides, rodenticides