Lentil
Turkey’s Lentil Exports In our country, lentil production, which has been in decline for a while, like other legumes; started to show a relative increase with the support and project applications. According to 2017 TUIK data, the proficiency rate for red lentils is 89.6%, while it is 56.5% for green lentils. Per capita consumption is 5 kg/year for red lentils and 0.6 kg/year for green lentils. The fact that red lentils have an important place in the food culture of our country also increases the amount of consumption.
Due to the sensitivity of lentils to climatic conditions, yield values vary over the years. In our country, red lentils are grown intensively in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, while green lentils are grown in the Central Anatolia Region.
According to 2018 TUIK data, red lentils are grown in 28 provinces and green lentils are grown in 32 provinces in Turkey. In the total area where 2.43 million decares of red lentils are grown, 160 thousand decares of irrigated production are carried out, and 5 thousand decares of the total area of 341 thousand decares of green lentils are grown. Climatic sensitivities affect the yield in lentil production, which is usually made in dry conditions.
While the import amount for the first 10 months of 2019 was 109 million dollars with 273 thousand tons, our export amount reached 129 million dollars with 200 thousand tons. According to the data of the first 10 months of 2019, the difference in the import-export balance of lentils reached approximately 20.60 million dollars in favor of our country.
