Broilers lead the way in Turkey

摘要

While Turkey's broiler industry has witnessed marked improvements during the past 17 years, much more needs to be done to develop the egg and turkey sectors. Turkey's commercial broiler industry started to develop in 1985. Prior to this, ready-to-cook products were uncommon in the market place. However in 1985, ready-to-cook poultrymeat, whole and parts, often tray-packed covered by stretch film, were introduced to consumers and has now become one of the most prominent ingredients in Turkish cuisine. Turkish people prefer fresh poultry to frozen. The growth in the demand for poultrymeat presented in this way gave a boost to production such that the industry has developed rapidly and currently provides a living for approximately two million peoplein rural areas. Annual turnover of the broiler sector is around US2.5 billion dollar contributing around 1.7 percent to the gross domestic product. The sector is highly integrated with the integrating companies supplying the day-old chicks, feed and veterinary services to the producers on credit, thereby effectively acting as agricultural bankers. They perform an important social duty, keeping the producers in business without cost to the government. This is the key to the development of the broiler sector in Turkey. Although the industry frequently experiences price fluctuation in the domestic market, this has not directly affected the producers, as these marketing problems mainly impact the integrating companies. Nevertheless, price fluctuations continue to present problems on top of which, integrators were faced with an additional economic crisis at the end of 2000.