Turkey sees no food supply security problem: Minister

Turkey has not seen any shortage in agricultural product supply during the coronavirus pandemic thanks to measures taken in advance, the agriculture and forestry minister has said, according to a ministry statement.

"By means of precautionary measures we have not experienced any disruption in food supply security," Bekir Pakdemirli was quoted as saying during a video conference meeting with the personnel on May 25 to mark Eid al-Fitr.

The ministry took measures to ensure food security in February, nearly a month before the coronavirus pandemic reached Turkey, he added.

The measures were tightened in mid-March, when first coronavirus cases and deaths occurred in the country, said Pakdemirli.

"Primarily, we founded a science board within the ministry. We started to watch closely the harvest, yield, tariff, import and export issues regarding nearly 50 products through the newly founded product desks," he said.

The ministry also opened hotlines to response to questions from farmers and consumers, according to the minister's remarks.

Farmers were given mobility permissions during weekend and holiday lockdown restrictions in a bid to sustain agricultural production.

Milk production incentives were increased and animal breeders were granted fodder incentives worth a total of 100 million Turkish Liras ($14.8 million). The loan repayments of farmers to the state-owned lender Ziraat and credit cooperatives were deferred for 6 months.

"Thanks to the fast and effective measures we have taken as a ministry, we have not experienced any problems in food production and supply during the epidemic and during the month of Ramadan," Pakdemirli said.

"In this process, we tried to protect both our producers and our...