Doruk Un, one of Türkiye’s biggest wheat flour producers and exporters, accelerated its sustainable agriculture and certified seed studies based on the fact that the biggest problem of countries in the future will be “food supply” due to the pandemic, wars and climate changes. 

Speaking at the press conference held in Tekirdağ regarding the harvest of the new wheat seed, Gürsel Erbap, Chairman and CEO of Doruk Un, stated that a period in which more care should be taken in the planting, harvesting, storage and shipment of agricultural products to the regions where they are needed has entered.

Under the “Doruk Tohumculuk” umbrella the brand develops nearly 80 types of seed such as wheat, barley, oat, corn, sunflower, and lupine in eight different region, three of which is in the Marmara Region, five in the Central Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia regions, the brand also acts together with farmers and producers with its seed supports and training activities. Doruk Un, which has made an investment of 75 million TL in this field to date, will be increasing it to a total of 200 million TRY at the end of the year. The goal is to achieve a turnover of 350 million TL in the 2024 season...

Doruk Un, which focuses on sustainable agriculture and productivity-based production and creates a value chain from field to table, is accelerating the studies to increase the cultivation areas and productivity of Türkiye as an agricultural country. Doruk Un which closed 2022 with a turnover of 4.1 Billion TRY and aims to grow 46% in 2023 with its warehouse, production and logistics investments and 6 Billion TRY turnover, aims to increase the yield by 20% with its sustainable agriculture and certified seed studies along with its R&D studies until the end of 2023. The brand which has made an investment of 75 million TRY in this field to date, will be increasing it to a total of 200 million TRY until the end of the year. Doruk Tohumculuk has determined its 2024 target turnover as 350 million TL, and aims to achieve a turnover of 850 million TRY at the end of next 5 years with an increase of approximately 20% every year. 

The ecosystem is being destroyed every passing day due to external factors such as fires, floods, windstorms, increase in insect population, deforestation, mining and excessive use of chemical drugs. The decreasing biodiversity, increasing chemical population, and CO2 caused by these factors is affecting agricultural yields adversely. Based on these facts Gürsel Erbap, Chairman and CEO of Doruk Un, underlines that we are entering to a period where we have to be more careful about cultivation, harvest, storage of the agricultural products and their shipment to the regions where they are needed. He also underlined the fact that especially July and August will be the hottest months of the last 100 years, and smart agricultural practises should be given importance to increase the yield. Erbap said “As Doruk Un, we have started your studies in the field to develop nearly 80 types of seed in eight different regions, three of which is in Marmara Region, five in the Central Anatolia and South Eastern Anatolia region. Increasing the incentives to use more certified seeds, determining the supports to the farmers at the time of purchasing and sales in accordance to the farmer costs, providing purchase guarantee, developing product based policies instead of collective product policies, along with developing seed types that are resistant to drought and diseases will be important in this process.” also stated that they took an important step for national and domestic varieties by developing 80 seeds of different varieties under Doruk Tohumculuk Umbrella from cool climate grains, warm climate grains, cash crop, to leguminous feed crops.  

Erbap drew attention to soil integration in regions suitable for agriculture for sustainable agriculture, stated that with correct agricultural policies the wheat production in Türkiye can be increased by 60%. Erbap underlined that in 2022 approximately 19 million tons of wheat was harvested, and said “Türkiye is a self-sufficient country in wheat...If Türkiye acts with right agricultural policies, and if TMO (Turkish Grain Board) continues its agricultural supports, there will be a significant increase in wheat production. Türkiye can increase its current production by 60% by consolidating agricultural lands and bringing non-cultivated areas into agriculture, making productivity investments and integrating them into technology. This means that it is possible to create a value-added economy by achieving export potential without importing.”

Erbap stated that, in general, seed companies in Türkiye are moving forward with introduction materials such as imported genotypes and varieties from different countries and that these materials cannot adapt and are not long lasting. Erbap said “As Doruk Un, we are aiming to reduce the foreign dependency of our country by developing the domestic and national varieties needed by Turkish farmers under the seed cultivation activities. Along with maximum yield and quality, we have developed varieties that can adapt to extreme climate conditions, resistant to drought and cold, resistant to diseases, and for the farmers who cannot buy fertilizer we have varieties with high fertilizer tolerance and we are proud that as a result of our these studies we will be able to increase national income and add value to our country.” and stated that they will add value to the Turkish agriculture with peak varieties that will meet all requirements in grain, the staple food source of our country. 

Doruk Un, by bringing together technological agricultural data and R&D studies with farmers; determines the losses that could occur during the seed, sowing, spraying, fertilizing, and harvesting stages and offers solutions. Doruk Un, which is among the biggest companies in Türkiye’s flour export continues to grow with its annual wheat crushing capacity of 438 tons, annual flour production of 350 thousand tons, 20 thousand sqm further technology plant, and its ever growing sales and distribution network, continues to grow. Exporting to 41 countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East, Doruk Flour has a strong integrated structure from production, storage, logistics to special products with its quality product and service approach. Doruk Un develops special products for a wide range of needs and purposes, from domestic use, bakeries and restaurants, hotels to baklava and pastries. Doruk Un, which uses 65-70% of its capacity in export markets, has expedited its growth with the volume increase in its market network in first quarter of 2023 and transition to value added products in its product portfolio.