'Food security at risk as world warms, drought frequency surges'

ANTALYA, Turkey – Rising global temperatures and the expected increase in frequency of droughts from every 10 years to every five years pose a grave threat to food security in the world, the head of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) Eurasia warned on Friday.

Every increase of 1 degree Celsius in global temperature slashes yields of wheat by 6%, rice by 3.2% and corn by 7.4%, Eren Gunhan Ulusoy said at the Turkey Grain Congress held in the Mediterranean resort city Antalya.

“An increase of 2 degrees Celsius will put some 84 million more people at risk of hunger by 2050,” he said.

He explained that the wheat cultivation area in Turkey had fallen below 7 million hectares by last year, from 9.4 million hectares in 2001.

The same situation will continue next year, Ulusoy said, adding that Turkey has taken measures such as boosting stocks to support the grain sector.

He pointed out that increased transportation and energy costs around the world, coupled with higher demand for grain products and monetary expansion, led to a spike in prices.

“The (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization’s grain index hit an eight-year high as a result,” he said.

- Turkish grain sector making strides

Bekir Pakdemirli, Turkey’s agriculture and forestry minister, said the country’s grain sector has been able to boost its productivity thanks to enhanced research and the government’s development initiatives.

“In the past decade, our wheat production has gone up by 40%. Corn and rice production was at 6.5 million tons and 1 million ton last year, which are record levels for Turkey,” he said.

Turkey’s grain sector pushed up its overall production by 3% to 37 million tons in 2020, he added.

On the future global scenario, Pakdemirli said the world’s need for food and water will increase by 60% and 15%, respectively, by 2050.

- ‘Export champions’

Flour and pasta are the two “export champions” of Turkey’s grain sector, according to Ulusoy.

While flour has been the sector’s top export for the past seven years, Turkey has also gradually become the largest exporter of pasta after Italy, he said.

Hailing the pasta industry as a “rising star of Turkey,” he said the country’s pasta exports have jumped by 80% in just five years and stood at $762 million last year.