Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated that Turkey ranks first in apricot production worldwide, adding, "Malatya also ranks first in Turkey with a 54% production rate. In dried apricots, Malatya's production rate is 85%. In fact, it is possible to say that Malatya is a gateway to the whole world in terms of apricots."

Minister Yumaklı, in a statement made during an apricot harvest program he attended in a garden in Görgü Mahallesi, Yeşilyurt district of Malatya, recalled that they had visited the city and met with producers after the agricultural frost that affected the region in April last year. He stated that at that time, they conveyed a message to the producers not to worry, not to cut down their trees, and that the state would be by their side at every stage of the maintenance process.

Yumaklı stated that trees that had no yield last year are producing again this year, and continued:

"Today, we see a very beautiful product on the trees, which makes all of us smile and casts away the pessimistic times of last year, thank God. Apricot is one of the most important products. Why? Because we, as Turkey, rank first in apricot production worldwide. Malatya also ranks first in Turkey with a 54% production rate. As you know, Malatya apricots have a geographical indication. Therefore, it is one of our very special and important products in this sense. In dried apricots, Malatya's production rate is 85%. In fact, it is possible to say that Malatya is a gateway to the whole world in terms of apricots. Apricots contribute approximately 19 billion liras to Malatya's economy. As I said, last year there was no product whatsoever in this garden, on these trees, on these branches. There wasn't even a single sample. There were no leaves. The flowers had burned and perished."

Yumaklı stated that following the agricultural frost last year, a state of emergency was declared in Turkey upon the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and approximately 47 billion liras in agricultural frost support was provided to farmers to enable them to continue production. He added that approximately 8 billion liras of this support was given to producers in Malatya.

Expansion of Sulfuring and Drying Facilities

Yumaklı stated that the Apricot Research Institute, affiliated with the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM) in Malatya, continues its activities to increase the added value of apricots. He noted that efforts are particularly underway to expand modern sulfuring and drying facilities.

Minister Yumaklı stated that he revisited the garden of the producer he had visited after the agricultural frost last year, recalling that at that time, they had given producers the message that the state would always be by their side.

"We want our producers to get TARSİM insurance"

Yumaklı, also touching upon climate change in his speech, noted the following:

"Climate change has now started to affect everything we do. We need to be prepared for this. Let me reiterate the issue of getting TARSİM, which is agricultural insurance. It is not a sustainable issue to compensate for the problems faced by our producers who do not have agricultural insurance. That's why we want all our producers to get TARSİM insurance. It is no longer possible to know what the climate will bring us from one day to the next, but we must be prepared. This was the first part. The second part is that when this issue occurs, we should not rely on hearsay or rumors, so to speak; we had also determined here that this was due to political motives. We must absolutely comply with the guidance of our Ministry, which is responsible for the continuation and realization of production, in all kinds of incidents encountered. If we do this, we will achieve today's beautiful results. I wish a prosperous, bountiful, accident-free, and trouble-free harvest season to both Malatya and my beautiful country, where the harvest continues for other products as well."

Minister Yumaklı then picked apricots with the workers and removed the pits before the apricots were left to dry.

The event was attended by Governor Seddar Yavuz, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Sami Er, AK Party Malatya MPs Bülent Tüfenkci, İnanç Siraç Kara Ölmeztoprak, Abdurrahman Babacan, AK Party Provincial Chairman Ali Bakan, Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Osman Akar, and other relevant officials.