TMO General Manager Güldal: “Our producers should not sell their products below TMO’s prices.”

The General Director of the Turkish Grain Board (TMO), Ahmet Güldal, stated, “We want our producers to evaluate based on TMO’s prices first. We do not want them to sell products at prices below that.”

TMO General Director Ahmet Güldal visited the Çarşamba Agency Directorate, which is under the Samsun Provincial Directorate, to conduct inspections. During his visit to the Çarşamba Agency Directorate, Güldal announced that over 10,000 tons of appointments have been made for 3,680 hazelnut producers in Çarşamba. He mentioned that since the hazelnut purchasing process started on August 19 in Çarşamba, appointments have been made for over 10,000 tons of products for 3,680 hazelnut producers so far, and that the preparations are at a level to purchase all offered products, indicating that there are no issues in the appointment and purchasing processes.

Güldal expressed that payments are made within 45 days, saying, “After the price was announced, we stated that we would make payments within 45 days for all products in 2024, but we never took 45 days for any product. Generally, payments were made within 20-30 days. We made the same statement for hazelnuts, saying that payments would be made within 45 days, not after 45 days. This week, we deposited the product payments for hazelnut producers who delivered their products to TMO. Therefore, we made payments between 11 and 21 days. At this point, we will not delay the producers in any way.”

Emphasizing the importance of combating the brown marmorated stink bug, which poses a significant threat in hazelnut production, Güldal stated, “For the last two years, our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, along with provincial and district agricultural directorates, has been trying to raise awareness about the potential problems through meetings, announcements, and various means. However, at this point, we see that in some regions where hazelnuts are produced, particularly in areas below 300-400 meters in altitude, the population of stink bugs is high and causing damage. In this respect, we believe that this sensitivity needs to be maintained at a much higher level next year. In order to avoid such a problem in 2025, if all available biological, chemical, and cultural combat methods are employed, and if the ministry allocates the necessary resources with the understanding that it should be not only the state but also non-governmental organizations and producers, we can eradicate this problem. We want our producers to evaluate by first challenging the market conditions and basing their evaluation on TMO’s prices; we do not want them to sell products at prices below that.”