ISO: A New Production Policy is Required in Cotton

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) pointed out the necessity of a new production policy in cotton, which is the raw material of many sectors, especially textile and ready-to-wear garment industries, which achieve exports amounting to 28 billion dollars.

The report of the workshop entitled ‘From Field to Brand Cotton Workshop’ organized by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) stated 10 urgent and high impact policy recommendations in order to become a global brand and to curb the decline in the cotton production of Turkey, where nearly 80 percent of non-GMO cotton in the world is produced.

Among the recommendations were topics such as cotton being a strategic product, creating a support system that prioritizes efficiency, quality and sustainability and protects against alternative products and price fluctuations, informing farmers, modernizing production, harvesting and ginning processes, and expanding ‘organic’ and ‘good cotton’ production.

Özhamaratlı: ‘‘Improving production and processing quality is very important’’

İrfan Özhamaratlı, ISO Vice-Chairman, expressed that the report was prepared after the workshop with the participation of the industry representatives from Turkey’s largest cotton manufacturing centers such as Şanlıurfa Trade and Industry Chamber, Şanlıurfa Mercantile Exchange, Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Izmir Mercantile Exchange, Diyarbakır Trade and Industry Chamber, Söke Mercantile Exchange, the National Cotton Council, and the Wildlife Conservation Foundation, as well as textile and ready-to-wear garment industries.

Özhamaratlı indicated that the cotton reality in Turkey was revealed in the ‘From Field to Brand Cotton Workshop’ report under several titles and continued as follows:

‘‘Cotton, which is the main raw material of our textile and ready-to-wear garment industries, which carry out exports amounting approximately to 28 billion dollars and employs more than 2 million when agriculture, manufacturing, and marketing are considered together, is one of the most strategic agricultural products of our country. For this reason, it deserves every effort and support that it receives. The rapid implementation of our recommendations in the report that we prepared for cotton, which is also called ‘white gold’, will prepare the ground for decreasing production costs, increasing productivity, quality, and added value, decreasing the need for imports and allowing the industry to contribute more to the country’s economy and exports.’’

Turkey, a Leading Manufacturer in terms of efficiency

In the introduction section of the workshop entitled ‘From Field to Brand Cotton Workshop’, the current data and developments regarding the production of cotton in the world and Turkey were given. According to the figures in the report, cotton, which provides the livelihood of nearly 250 million people in the world and has a decreased value due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak amounting to approximately 1.5 dollars per kg, is produced in our country around Aegean, Çukurova, and Şanlıurfa regions. In cotton, cultivated areas have declined in the last 30 years due to the development of alternative products, volatility in prices, insufficient support policies, migration of the young labor to the city, and land division. The cultivated area approaching 7.6 million decares in 1998 decreased to less than 5 million decares in 2019. There is again an expectancy of a decrease of around 35 percent in cotton production areas in 2020. However, per-hectare yield rose about 60 percent in the last 30 years in the case of Turkey, which is a leading manufacturer in the world in terms of efficiency.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization data, Turkey holds sixth place in cotton production in the world with 976 thousand tons of cotton production, and realize the 3.5 percent of the total global yield per year. Turkey has the second place after China with imports of 762 thousand tons per, whereas exports of cotton take place at the level of 105 thousand tons in Turkey. Turkey produces approximately 80 percent of non-GMO cotton in the world. The number of farmers producing good cotton has reached 3,299 last year in our country, where the understanding of ‘Organic’ and ‘Good Cotton’ has become increasingly widespread. The size of the land with good cotton cultivation was 53 thousand 400 hectares.

However, frequent incorrect applications are applied at all stages of cotton production in Turkey. Errors and problems are stated in the report as 16 items. Among them, problems such as decreasing cultivation areas, low quality, small scale, lack of cooperatives, farmer’s training and information needs, irrigation, fertilization, spraying and harvest errors were included. In the ‘Policy Recommendations’ section at the end of the report, there are 10 prioritized items with high urgency and impact power in overcoming the problems. In the report, which stated that the government support policy of cotton should be reviewed, the benefits of farmers, industrialists, and consumers were observed with the new cotton production policy.

The 10 Policy Recommendations in the Field to Brand Cotton Workshop Report are as follows:

1- A support system should be created that prioritizes quality and sustainability as well as the efficiency, and protects cotton against alternative products and price fluctuations.

2- Cotton, which is the raw material of many sectors, especially in the textile and ready-made clothing sectors, should be considered as a strategic product, and all legal authority and responsibility in the production, harvesting, and ginning processes should be collected in the Ministry of Agriculture.

3- All processes from seed to final product should be controlled and monitored by a technological infrastructure and a system developed in cooperation with state, NGOs, and the producer.

4- Cotton cultivation areas should be combined and enlarged, the costs arising from the scale should be minimized, and stable cotton cultivation should be done with modern farming techniques.

5- Farmers should be trained in irrigation, fertilization, spraying, and harvesting, and they should be informed in all processes.

6- To increase yield and quality, and prevent early and night harvesting, an effective control should be applied, harvesting should be carried out according to soil moisture and temperature measurements, use of jute bags should be prevented, and machine harvest should be supported through VAT reduction.

7- The fiduciary system should be eliminated and licensed warehousing should be expanded.

8- The ginning facilities, which are one of the most important steps in the production process, should be modernized and standards should be introduced.

9- Additional support premiums should be provided to spread and encourage the farmers to produce Organic Cotton with sustainable production and Good Cotton Standards.

10- Diesel, the electricity used in irrigation and machines purchased by farmers should be included in the VAT support system, and VAT on ginning, machine harvesting, spraying, and other contracting service costs should be reduced to 1 percent.