Turkiye’s Experience in Developing the Organic Fruit and Vegetable Production and Export System

Abstract

This article analyzes Turkiye’s experience in developing organic agriculture, supporting producers, establishing certification mechanisms, and promoting organic products in international markets. Turkiye is one of the countries that has transformed organic agriculture from an export-oriented initiative into a broader agricultural sector supported by a dedicated legal and control framework. The study examines Law No. 5262 on Organic Agriculture, mechanisms for supporting producers, certification and control procedures, and recent statistical indicators. In 2025, approximately 37,000 farmers in Turkiye were engaged in organic agriculture on 235,000 hectares of land. In 2024, Turkiye exported more than 150,000 tonnes of organic agri-food products to the European Union, becoming the sixth-largest supplier to this market. The analysis indicates that Turkiye’s model has developed production, certification, public support, and export requirements as interconnected elements rather than as separate components. For Uzbekistan, the most relevant aspects of this experience include reducing certification costs, organizing farmers through group certification schemes, and developing export-oriented organic agricultural clusters.