Northern Cyprus seeks potato markets

Northern Cyprus would like to assess its potato production in Turkey’s market, a minister from the island has said.

“We produce high-quality potatoes in our country and want to evaluate our crops with respect to the Turkish market,” said Nazım Çavuşoğlu, northern Cyprus’ minister of agriculture and natural resources.

Speaking during his visit to a Frito Lay plant, which makes potato chips in the organized industrial zone of the southern city of Tarsus, Çavuşoğlu said the potatoes used at the plant contribute a lot to Turkish farmers. “We would like to cooperate with the plant to assess our potatoes.”

Commenting on the taste and quality of the plant’s products, he said: “We are considering cooperation with Frito Lay. We were in collaboration for a while in the past, but then it was interrupted for some reason. We would like to make a new start. I have elected to come here to say that we are ready for cooperation, should you be interested in the produce of our land.”

Noting that northern Cyprus is cultivating potatoes in line with current consumption but has the capacity for more production should new markets arise, Çavuşoğlu said: “Our production is indexed to consumption. At present, our annual cultivation is around 15,000 to 20,000 tons, but if we can find new markets, we may raise this figure to 50,000 to 60,000 tons. Due to the isolation the international community imposes on us, we are unable to attain high export rates. Therefore, Turkey constitutes our target market.”

Çavuşoğlu also visited the southern city of Adana for an agricultural fair. During his visit to Adana, he highlighted the importance of a project to carry drinking water from a stream in Anamur, a town of Mersin, to northern Cyprus. “Our citizens are facing great distress. But we now know that a portion has been reserved from the budget for the transfer of water from the stream to our island,” he said. “We expect the project to be implemented within three years.”

Stressing both the strategic and economic contributions of this project, he said the water would change life on the island.