Cotton

Representatives of farmers from the region of Thessaly in central Greece said Friday after a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that forcing them to abandon the cultivation of cotton would be a "red line" to them. 

“The hard work begins now; we will not abandon cotton”, the Prime Minister said earlier during his meeting with institutional bodies of the region

What links a small group of farmers from Farsala to a French couture house? Cotton - but not just any cotton. Organic cotton grown according to the principles of regenerative agriculture on European soil, using methods that are safe for the environment and acceptable by society's standards.

Within the scope of a draft regulation prepared by the Trade Ministry, cotton produced in Türkiye will be identified with DNA barcodes encompassing information about the production processes.

Drought is impacting cotton production, posing additional risks to Türkiye's large textile and garment industry which has seen weaker demand since June, according to people from the industry.

Farmers in Larissa, central Greece, are planning to roll out their tractors at the Platykambos junction of the Athens-Thessaloniki national road on Monday in protest at cotton prices, which they complain are too low for them to cover production costs.
The farmers are demanding a meeting with Agriculture and Food Minister Makis Voridis to discuss their grievances.

Thousands of children of farm laborers are working in the fields in the Siverek district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa picking cotton instead of going to school.

"It's like eating cotton or felt!" These are the words which came out as I was trying to explain the fruit. We were beneath an oleaster tree in Gallipoli. My travel companions were all wine experts; we were touring the Thracian vineyards and wineries, and this was the only time I found something they did not know before, beyond the grape I mean.

Turkey's plan to impose anti-dumping duties on U.S. cotton imports will drive up costs for its own textile producers, hurting the competitiveness of their exports, the head of an industry group said on April 19.

Turkey said it has concluded that U.S. cotton imports are damaging domestic output after a more than year-long review, dealing a potential blow to the world's No. 3 grower of natural fiber amid concerns Ankara could resort to anti-dumping duties.