As Dost Ziraat Tarım A.Ş, we were the guests of Ekovitrin magazine’s February issue. In the interview which had the statements of our Chairman of Abdulkadir Karagöz, we shared many topics with the readers, from the establishment of our company to the services we provide, future goals, and the point reached in the field of agriculture and animal livestock in Turkey.
Young and successful entrepreneur Abdulkadir Karagöz the the Chairman of Dost Ziraat ve Hayvancılık A.Ş. made important statements to Ekovitrin about the company, which builds an ecosystem in the field of agriculture and livestock and develops projects to implement biological and sustainable practices with high added value from seed to table. Abdulkadir Karagöz said, “The world is on the eve of a new transformation in terms of agriculture. We name this new transformation as biological transformation. Presumably after 10 years, the bio-product market will dominate the entire industry. If we can understand this new transformation and take a position, we may become the most powerful actor in the world in terms of agriculture.” He continued saying, “As a company, we are trying to establish a bio-ecosystem. However, the state should prepare a red book (a constitutional legislation) for the agriculture and livestock sectors. We can only be a market in agriculture with momentary reflexes. Instead, we should develope 100-year visions.” Abdulkadir Karagöz answered the questions of Bilal Koçak who is the Executive Editor of Ekovitrin.
When we look at the agriculture and livestock sectors, what kind of picture appears?
We are a large agricultural country which ranks 1st in Europe and 7th in the world in terms of agricultural production. Agricultural sector receives support from the state in our country more than billion. However, when these supports are not fed with a correct planning and strict supervision, we can face with inefficient results. Although we are a producing country, sometimes imports and currency pressure in energy-medicine-fertilizer can cause food inflation. Namely, the state makes a serious contribution to the producer with its support. However, when the regulatory and supervisory mechanisms do not work properly, we face with unhappy producers and fluctuating food inflation. We have deficiencies in planning and organization.
“TURKEY TURNED A NEW PAGE IN AGRICULTURE IN THE LAST 15 YEARS”
How do you evaluate agricultural policies of Turkey? What type of strategies do you implement in agricultural production and seed growing as a company?
These lands have thousands of years agricultural history and they own a unique strategy. This story also underwent various changes with the proclamation of the Republic. Some structural issues in this area, such as inheritance law, water, and forest regimes, have caused some gaps in the major transformation which happened last 97 years ago. In the later years of the Republic, the contemporary society started to be perceived as an ‘urban, consuming, working in industry’ society. Migration from village to city was encouraged. Because of the uncontrolled and unplanned resettlement policies, people started to empty villages, the agricultural population decreased, the agricultural lands remained empty, and villages were neglected. The village population, which was deprived of the most basic investments, began to distance themselves from agriculture day by day, and the human resources in agriculture started to decrease. However, Turkey has turned a new page in agriculture in the last 15 years. Services like electricity, water and roads were supplied to the villages; and the farmers were given very serious incentives which can provide them an advantage in international competition. As a result, we have the largest agricultural production in Europe. Despite the 100 years of planning and implementation mistakes and the unstable agricultural strategies which still go on, Turkey today has become an important actor in the world in terms of agricultural production, thanks to our self-sacrificing producers.
“THE WORLD IS ON THE EVE OF A NEW TRANSFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE”
What should Turkey do in order to make progress in field of agriculture and livestock?
The primary step for Turkey to move forward in the field of agriculture and livestock is correct planning. All processes from seed to table should be planned, organized, and inspected in a way which leaves no gaps. The world is on the eve of a new transformation in agriculture. We can name this new transformation as “biological transformation”. After 10 years, the bio-product market may dominate the entire industry. If we can understand this new transformation and take a position, we may become the most powerful actor in the world in terms of agriculture. We are on the verge of a major transformation in agriculture just like our technological transformation in the defense industry; manned systems are being replaced by UAVs and we managed to become one of the leading countries with our work in this field. The era of chemical-assisted agriculture, which has dominated the last 30 years, will end. It is very difficult for us to compete against billion dollars of global medicine, chemical additive, and chemical fertilizer companies. Instead, we can become an actor in the ongoing biological transformation and lead the world agriculture. Because of this reason; bio seeds, bio drugs, bio additives, bio preservatives, bio fertilizer, and bio energy are very important.
As a company, we strive to establish this bio ecosystem, and we pay attention to being a pioneer and platform in this field. However, the state should prepare a red book for the agriculture and livestock sector. We can only be a market in agriculture with the momentary reflexes and remain only passive in transformations. However, if we can determine 10-20-30-100-year visions and write the red book of agriculture and forestry, we can lead the change. We can be one of the leading actors in the world in an industry, where 1 gram seed is equivalent to 1 gram gold and billions of dollars are spent for chemical products, in terms of bioproducts, additives, and bio seeds, as we are in tomato production. After the biotransformation, solutions will be generated via bio-additives in the new agriculture and livestock model without increasing costs and reducing productivity. Productivity will be monitored very carefully with artificial intelligence applications and autonomous systems. The entire process, from seeding to reaping of products and from reaching the consumers to recycling, will be digitalized. Turkey is a country which has the potential to both provide digitalization and become the producer of bio-market’s all products in these processes. We hopefully have the basis to achieve the exemplary transformation in agriculture, as we succeeded in the defense industry. Turkey can turn a new and much significant page in agriculture via the strong will of our President with stable policies, digitalization, full and efficient use of resources, focusing on bio-transformation, regulation, supervision, reward-punishment sanctions, branding, recycling, and scale production.
What type of strategies do you implement in agricultural production and seed growing as a company?
As a company, we strive for a healthy and biological chain which extends from the seed to the table. We are trying to develop a profitable, healthy, and sustainable ecosystem in which the producer produce added value. We also trying to prepare a Turkish brand. We have been collecting natural seeds and doing natural breeding for 10 years. We collected the delicious seeds of Anatolia and made natural breeding. Thanks to this, we have obtained seeds which can satisfy the producer with high efficiency and satisfy the consumer with their flavor and quality. Now we are starting to commercialize.
“WE PRODUCE OVER 6 THOUSAND TONS OF MILK ANNUALLY”
Can you give information about your total production capacity in both for agriculture and livestock ? How much of your production do you reserve for export? Which countries do you export to?
We produce more than 6 thousand tons of milk annually. Our apple, pear, and field crops production exceeds 10 thousand decares together with our contracted production. We have completed the R&D process in terms of seeds; now we are in the commercialization stage. We export agricultural products to countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Qatar. As for seed export, I can mention a wide market ranges from Africa to Dagestan.
“WE HAVE BECOME THE PIONEER IN THE SALES OF RAW MILK IN THE INDUSTRY”
Can you tell us about your investments which you made in field of R&D and innovation?
Eight years ago, we developed milk vending machines, and then we became a pioneer in the sale of raw milk in the sector. Then, many raw milk producers brought their products to the consumers.
We carry out very serious R&D activities in the field of biotechnology. We have developed alternative products instead of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Currently, the tests continue successfully. The results are exciting. We are very close to putting an end to chemical use for both cost and preserving naturalness. Animal identification systems and natural breeding studies for seeds are also among our other R&D studies.
Our customers, to whom we sold raw milk, had a heavy demand for natural yogurt culture and homemade yogurt. We cooperated with TUBITAK MAM for our studies which we carry on to develop products that can meet this demand. We produce an alternative to the industrial yoghurt on the market shelves. Our yogurt tastes like homemade yogurt and its culture is produced from natural bacteria. When it comes to taste, homemade yogurt has a quite different flavor. A consumer who eats yoghurt made from raw milk is no longer much interested in yoghurt which is produced in the industry. In this process, TUBITAK collected hundreds of yogurt samples. In a village yoghurt from the Taurus Mountains, TUBITAK detected beneficial bacteria that has very dominant properties which enable fermentation with a very high resistance against harmful bacteria. We have also carried out trial, measurement and taste tests with our milk for months. These natural culture bacteria which have high resistance prevent yoghurt from spoiling quickly. The product can be commercialized on the market shelves. When you eat this yogurt; bacteria which have high resistance also fight against harmful bacteria in your body effectively. Namely, it is both natural and has a long shelf life. In addition, it has a very positive effect on the body and has home yogurt flavor. Science can succeed great things in field of agriculture with such natural and ecological solutions.
I would like to thank Mehlika Hoca and her team from TUBITAK MAM Food Institute through you, they are doing very good works. In this naturalness movement, which turns a new page in the sector, we become an actor in the commercialization of the product, as we become in the R&D process. We bring these products to the consumer with our Süt Kaynağı brand.
“WE HAVE BEEN SERVING IN THE SECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK FOR 10 YEARS”
Can you tell us about the services and solutions you provide as Dost Ziraat Hayvancılık A.Ş?
As Dost Ziraat, we have been serving in the agriculture and livestock sector for 10 years. Our main activity areas consist of animal and plant production, seed growing, export, retail milk, and dairy products. In our studies at Dost Ziraat, we work for all stages from seed to table. We work as Süt Kaynağı and Bi’sut in the field of milk and dairy products, Yes Farmers in our export-focused works; Dost Tohum in seed breeding; and Dost Ciftlik and Dost Meyve brands in our animal-plant production and other fields.
“2019 BECAME THE INVESTMENT AND THE R&D YEAR”
How was 2019 for your company? What type of investments have you made?
I can say that 2019 has been the year of investment and the R&D year in the field of agriculture and animal livestock. In this process, we have increased our genetic capacity in terms of livestock. We managed to obtain an average of 35 liters of milk per animal and reached satisfactory efficiencies in terms of milk/feed parity. We strengthened our export infrastructure. We allocated a serious fund from our budget for R&D activities and received the fruits of our labor in a short time. It has been a year in which we have developed new products and new markets. We have made significant preparations for 2020 which is the 10th year of our establishment.
“WE BUILD AN ECOSYSTEM”
Can we learn about your short and long term goals and investment plans as Dost Ziraat Hayvancılık A.Ş?
We are building an ecosystem in the field of agriculture and livestock. In this process, we aim to conduct studies which can protect interests of the customer and the producer and maintain the quality of the soil for generations. We work natural milk and dairy products, natural breeding, bio drug solutions, and usage of renewable energy sources in agriculture. In brief, we develop natural products in which the producer obtains high efficiency and the consumer is confident in their taste and content. We will actualize biological and sustainable applications with high added value from seed to table. We will produce and create new brands in Turkey for Turkey, and export will be our flagship. We aim to be a model Turkish brand in this field.
