IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlustarted the distribution of 68 thousand 600 bags of oil sunflower seeds from Silivri to 1592 farmers producing on a total area of 2 thousand 541 decares in the city. Saying, “We have only one problem: The fields of this city and the gardens of this city should not be concrete,” İmamoğlu said, “I tell people everywhere who love to build this canal in this city: They intend to build 150 million square meters of land as flats and buildings. Concrete, the city does not feed people," he said. Stating that Turkey's foreign dependency in agricultural production and the current economic crisis made everyone unhappy, İmamoğlu said, “We have an obligation to re-give the importance that Turkey gave to agriculture and farmers in the past. As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's word is entrusted to us, we have to make you the master of the nation again. Otherwise, we will starve,” he warned.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) started the distribution of 68 bags of oil sunflower seeds to 600 farmers producing on a total area of 1592 decares in the city. Due to the start of distribution, IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluAn event was held in front of Müjdat Gürsu Sports Facility in Silivri with the participation of . Making a speech at the event, Silivri Mayor Volkan Yılmaz thanked İmamoğlu for the support of İBB for agriculture in the district. Speaking about his services to agriculture and animal husbandry in Silivri, Yılmaz said, “Silivri is currently managed by a management that is aware of this potential in agriculture and animal husbandry. We are currently building Istanbul's first and only animal market, considering that there is no animal market in Istanbul, and that there is no slaughterhouse under the supervision of the municipality. A month later, we will open the animal market. I hope our Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality will be with us at that opening," he said.
“WE EVEN IMPORT WIRE”
Speaking after Yılmaz, İmamoğlu said, “The process we are going through has proven once again how important agricultural production and food security are. Unfortunately, the wrong policies followed in our country made us dependent on foreign agriculture. Our President just said, 'Don't forget to say straw'. We can't say I swear. We even import it because. There is such a painful policy process,” he said. Emphasizing that the input prices are constantly increasing and the sweat of the producers is not being paid for, İmamoğlu said, “Of course, this threatens the sustainability of agriculture. In the last twenty years, our farmer has given up planting on land the size of two Thrace in our country. The average farmer age unfortunately rose to 57. So our villages are empty. Young people did not engage in farming. In the last 20 years, we have imported 2,5 million tons of sunflower and its derivatives, and we have paid approximately 20 billion dollars in return. So we're back to importing. What's worse, we realize 37 percent of the world's sunflower and derivatives imports alone. In other words, we have become the world leader in this field, in the field of importing”.
“WE HAVE TO MAKE YOU THE MASTER OF THE NATION AGAIN OR WE GO STARTED”
Stating that this situation makes everyone unhappy, İmamoğlu said, “We have an obligation to re-give the importance that Turkey gave to agriculture and farmers in the past. As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's word is entrusted to us, we have to make you the master of the nation again. Otherwise, we will starve,” he warned. Expressing that the cost of the project, which will give the farmers a breath of fresh air, is 5,5 million liras, İmamoğlu stated that they increased the number of seedling production greenhouses owned by İBB to two, and said, “We planted the seeds in mid-March. From the end of April, we will distribute our seedlings to our producers free of charge," he shared. Summarizing the support they give to producers engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing, İmamoğlu said, “We have only one problem: The fields of this city and the gardens of this city should not be concrete. Look, we see that this city has been experiencing excitement in the re-planting of agricultural lands for 2,5 years. We see that excitement reflected on the faces of our citizens in the villages. We will be with them. We will assist in its production, but also in its bridges with the consumer. Look, I tell people everywhere in this city who love to build this canal: They intend to build 150 million square meters of land into flats and buildings. 150 million square meters of concrete canal and a city around it. Concrete, the city does not feed people," he said.
After the speeches, farmer Serpil Kılıç presented the melon that he produced with the seeds distributed by İBB the previous year to İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu, Yılmaz and their delegation took pictures with the villagers in front of the oil sunflower seeds loaded on trucks to be distributed to the farmers.
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