Production

Along with the fast paced life required by our age, the increasing income level and education level have increased the importance of safe food consumption. Consumers want to be sure of the safety of all food products they buy, especially the agricultural products they directly consume. With this awareness, the need to establish certain systems and standards has emerged in order to provide consumers with a guarantee that both agricultural products and processed foods are produced safely. For this purpose, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has created an agreement that includes regulations on food safety in order to protect international standards on "Animal and Plant Health" in foreign trade of agricultural products. The first of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - SPS Agreement is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) in food, and the other is the GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) for application in agricultural production. It is the GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). The World Food Organization (FAO) has also worked on the principles of Good Agricultural Practices (ITU). Finally, the big retailers in the European Union countries came together to form the European Retailers Product Working Group (EUREP) and in 1999 they prepared the EUREPGAP (European Retailers Product Working Group Good Agricultural Practices) Protocol on the principles of good agricultural practices in fresh fruit and vegetables. These progress efforts of the countries leading agriculture in the world have made it necessary to follow and implement various internationally accepted standards in Turkey. Our country has an extremely advantageous position for agricultural production with its climate, soil and water conditions. On the other hand, our producers' production with inherited production techniques and, accordingly, their reluctance to receive technical service have created some problems in our agricultural production. Especially unconscious pesticide applications have caused us to experience residue problem in our agricultural product exports. It is of great importance for the future of our country's agriculture that the "Good Agricultural Practices" conditions in our country are adopted and correctly applied by all sector employees, especially our agricultural consultants. Thanks to the developments in Good Agricultural Practices, safe products will be offered to the foreign market, and the people of our country will be provided with healthy and reliable products. The aim of Good Agricultural Practices is to make production that will not harm human health and the environment. For this, GAP recommends the application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) techniques together in production. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles are used to ensure hygienic conditions in post-production harvesting and storage and to prevent any contamination of the product.