As farmers shift away, cotton imports on the rise in Turkey

More and more farmers are shifting away from cottonseed production in Turkey due to not receiving sufficient government support and there is a visible decline in the production output forecast for 2020. The cottonseed production output was almost 2,2 million tons in 2019 and the projection for 2020 falls short by 36% and is expected to reach only 1.6 million tons.
As a result, the country has geared up cottonseed imports and the forecast for 2020 is to import over 1 million tons against the 800 KMT of 2019. Turkey is expected to allocate $2 billion for cottonseed imports this year while in 2019 the imported cottonseed was valued at $1.5 billion.
On the other hand, experts point out the fact that the minimal farmgate price of unprocessed cottonseed should be no less than $0.80 per kg so that farmers can cover for the increasing costs.