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One of Turkey's ways of salvation in agriculture is value-added agriculture. And while Turkey is one of the 5 largest grape producers in the world, one of the most attractive options is undoubtedly viticulture.
One of the things you hear most from the mouths of opponents in Turkey is that agriculture is over by 2022. Agriculture is one of the most important factors marking the independence of any country. It is considered a success for a country to be able to maintain at least a minimum level of food production when closed to itself. As a matter of fact, Türkiye is one of the countries that achieved this. Considering the export figures, the fact that it is one of the 10 countries that earn the most income from agriculture in the world (2018 data is 62 Billion Dollars) shows that the situation is not bad.
Turkey is also one of the rare countries that can narrowly close its agricultural export-import balance to a positive agricultural export-import balance. So why are our farmers so unhappy when the situation is not depressing at all? The first step of this situation is, of course, the costs. The most important solution, which has been on the lips of farmers in Turkey, is the proposal to apply special tariffs to farmers on fuel prices. In 2009, farmers in Turkey were the ones using the most expensive fuel among the top 10 producing countries. This statistic was resolved after the increase in the dollar exchange rate and the government's tax waivers on fuel, but farmers were worried about it because there was a total loss of welfare. could not benefit from it.
Let me come to the subject of my article without further ado. The second problem is non-value added production. Food exports other than agricultural products are not very common in Turkey. For example, we generally export fresh fruit, followed by drying and turning it into must/fruit juice. So, why don't we turn to viticulture, which is also valuable for people who want to see the production phase and culture it, to show it around?
At the beginning of the article, I showed with a few statistics that we are not actually that bad. But we are much better here, while we are among the 10 largest producers in agriculture in general, we are 5th in the world grape producers ranking and our place is quite solid. The largest share of our exports is fresh grapes, followed by raisins, vinegar, jam and must. I will partially prove what a ridiculous thing we have done with a very simple question, How much can you pay for a bottle of vinegar? ?
Your answer and the market are directly proportional, so we earn 3-5 cents from here, so to speak, and while we are among the 5 producers that direct the market! The most value-added product obtained from grapes is wine. Although we are among the top 5 grape producers in the world, we are the 4th country with the most land size suitable for wine grapes, with the USA coming after us.
The homeland of wine is Anatolia. There are more than one story about the place where the first wine was made, but all of them are stories that take place in Anatolia or on the coast of Anatolia, so we wouldn't be wrong if we generally call it Anatolia. The Hittites, one of the most developed Anatolian Civilizations, were one of the biggest wine producers at that time. They appointed "Wine Governors" to the regions together with the governors and kept the production under control. The Hittites called wine "Vienna'-Vino and they produced and traded in quantities.
So, while all this was happening in Anatolia, what was the state of viticulture in France, which currently has the highest wine export in the world (10 Billion Dollars)? 0 (Zero), no need to be surprised. In a similar scenario as our tea seedlings being brought from India and cultivated in the Black Sea, France's first grape seedlings were brought from Anatolia thanks to the Greek colonies. Wine corresponds to the English word "wine", but what about the Hittites? What did he say about the wine? Not only the culture, but all the instruments, down to the word and the plant, spread from Anatolia to the world.
Among the countries with suitable lands for wine grapes, we are the 4th in size, currently the 6th largest grape producer, and we have an extremely hegemonic culture. The basis of the entire wine culture is in our country. So where are we in wine? When we look at the weight, we are in the 33rd place with a production of 44,000 tons per litre. When we look at the export figures, we are struggling in the 50th place with 10 Million Dollars. Even Armenia is ahead of us with an export of 12 Billion Dollars. I really wish these data were a big joke. While the people in these lands are enjoying the business and have a monopoly on the sector, at this point where there is not a single grape seedling in France, they are creating an income of 10 Billion Dollars and we are creating an income of 10 "Million" Dollars.
So how did we get to this point? In the first years of the Republic, the beverage industry also took its share from the founders' efforts to establish a more pro-Western culture in the country. By establishing a monopoly company, almost all production was supervised and controlled by the state. The idea of opening wineries in many villages was progressing, albeit slowly, and alcoholic beverages were constantly being advertised and encouraged. Of course, this was valid for all alcoholic beverages, not specifically wine, but it was not about producing quality wine, but about producing a lot and importing it. During this period, Turkish wines could not make a name for themselves because a campaign was carried out to target the wines. The sector, which shrank in terms of sales points with the change of government, experienced a wavering in the following years with the withdrawal of state support and privatization. Until the 80s and 90s, even Turkish people did not value their own wine because the wine culture in Turkey was seen as "inferior" and the industry was very shallow.
In the early 2000s, with the stabilization of the country and increasing foreign investors, increasing liberal reforms and prosperity, the golden years of wine in Turkey were experienced for a very short period of time. Gusto (Turkey's first and only drinks-culture magazine) magazine, which started publishing in 2001, is one of the most prominent compendiums of the period. There has been a significant rise in wine exports, while sales within the country have also gradually improved. The flame of freedom and the West that had shone so quickly in Turkey had begun to fade. In fact, the industry was continuing to use its impetus at the beginning of 2000 and was on its way, and it also had a very advantageous taxation compared to other drinks. In 2013, an event occurred that left the entire beverage industry speechless. All kinds of advertisements or activities with advertising potential were banned by all liquor producers. The scope of the ban was so wide that Gusto Magazine, which gave points and shared posts about newly released wines in each issue, was removed from publication because it mentioned the brands and names of the wines. A dark cloud has settled over the entire industry.
Even in its best years, the sector was not practiced because it was very profitable and financially satisfactory. It progresses haphazardly as a hobby of wealthy business people, a viticulture tradition and lands inherited from the family, or an area undertaken for the sake of love. Perhaps because it is one of the sectors that producers enjoy most in Turkey, very high-quality wines have become available lately. The concrete reward for this seems to be Turkish wines, which now return with medals from every international competition they participate in. Recently, with the initiative of several municipalities and producers, "vineyard routes" have been created and the touristic aspect of the business has also been developed. But these are numbers that cannot exceed the fingers of one hand. While France earns 10 Billion Dollars, we earn 10 Million Dollars, France is also the country that hosts the most tourists in the world. Viticulture opens up a billion-dollar market for Turkey, both directly and indirectly. It is literally a "local and national" sector because it can produce value without importing raw materials and machinery from abroad, like industry. It offers a higher profit margin.
I am neither an oenologist nor a degustador nor am I someone with great gusto. But I wanted to write down what I know more or less about this subject that I have been thinking about. I would also like to thank names such as Mehmet Yalçın, Levon Bagis, Mehmet Yaşin, Teoman Hünal, Ayhan Sicimoğlu, Vedat Milor and Mustafa Çamlıca, whose articles and programs I follow frequently, for their contributions to the sector. If the readers are interested, I strongly recommend them to follow the names I have listed.
Source:
Wine from A to Z – Mehmet Yalçın
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