4. POPULATION AND PRODUCTION

4.1. Sheep and Goat Populations and their Distributions

Turkey is among the major sheep and goat raising countries of the world, with a sheep population of 48.7 million heads and a goat population of 16.7 million heads in 1983. Table 4.1 shows the trends in sheep and goat numbers since 1951, and Table 4.2 gives the composition of the sheep population in the country in relation to breeds.

Except for minor fluctuations, sheep number increased rapidly until 1981 when the number in 1951 was doubled. It decreased in 1983, partly as a result of the increase in the exports of live sheep since the end of 1982. Number of hair goats increased moderately until 1960. Thereafter it showed a fairly consistent decline which resulted from measures taken for the protection of forests and woodlands, and from measures applied for reducing hairgoat numbers since the initiation of development plans in 1962. Among these measures were substituting sheep and cattle for the hair goats in forest areas, and encourraging mass consumption and export of these goats. Number of Angora goats declined from a hig level of 6.0 millions in 1960 to 3.5 millions in 1975, and then showed a slight recovery reaching 3.8 millions in 1981. However, over the next two years it declined to 3.1 millions. Prohibition of their grazing in bushy and brushy areas, and low and fluctuating mohair prices are the main reasons for the reduction and inconsistency in Angora goat numbers.

Of the sheep population, 97 percent belong to indigenous breeds and remaining 3 percent are Merino type sheep. Eleven sheep breeds have been described; five are fat-tailed (White Karaman, Red Karaman, Dağliç, Awassi and Karakul), four are thin-tailed (Kivircik, Karayaka, Turkish Merino and Gökçeada/Imroz), one is semi-fat-tailed (Sakiz) and one fat-rumped (Tuj). Fat-tailed breeds are mostly distributed in the inland and thin-tailed breeds in the coastal regions of the country. The distribution areas of these sheep breeds are shown on Figure 4.1.

Table 4.1. Sheep and goat numbers in different years (Index: 1951 = 100; numbers: thousands)

Source; SIS (1955 – 1984).

Table 4.2. Composition of sheep population in relation to breeds (1983)

Source: SIS (1984).

Among the sheep breeds, White Karaman is the most numerous breed (43.2 percent), folloved by Red Karaman (24.4 percent), Dagliç (12.3 percent) and Kivircik (7.7 percent). Karakul, Sakiz and Imroz have small populations varying from 0.05 to 0.15 percent. 3.4 percent of the sheep population consists of local breeds and native crosses (Table 4.2).

Of the 16,7 million goats, 13.6 millions (81.4 percent) are common hair goats and 3.1 millions (18.6 percent) are Angora goats (SIS, 1984). The number of milk-type goats in the country is estimated around 120 thousands; they are not included in the officiai statistics. Hair goats are distributed in ail the regions of the country, and Angora goats mainly in Central Anatolia. milk goats are mostly raised in and around towns and cities of coastal regions; they can be found sporadically in the other regions. Figure 4.2 shows the distribution of the goat breeds in the country.

4.2. Sheep and Goat Production :

Sheep and goat in Turkey make important contributions to the meat and milk output of the country. The annual production figures for meat obtained from sheep and goats are given in Table 4.3, and those for sheep and goat milk in Table 4.4.

Figure 4.1. distribution of Sheep Breeds in Turkey

Figure 4.2. distribution of Goat Breeds in Turkey

In 1983, respectively 303 and 130 thousand tons of meat were obtained from the slaughterings in the country of sheep and goats. Total indigenous sheep and goat meat production in the same year, which includes the meat equivalent of exported live animal, was 468 housand tons; it corresponds to 47.6 percent of total indigenous meat produced in the country.

In the same year sheep milk production was 1 300 thousand tons and goat milk production was 636 thousand tons, these correspondio to 21.2 and 10.7 percent of the total niilk production of the country in that year. Over the period from 1969 to 1983 goat milk production remained fairly constant, while sheep milk production increased about 50 percent; this increase in sheep milk production is mainly associated with the increases in the sheep numbers. However, the proportion of sheep milk in the total milk production increased slightly during this period, while that of goat milk showed a considerable reduction. The contribution of these two species together to the milk output of the country is still at a high level (32.6 percent in 1983).

Table 4.3. Annual production of sheep and goat meat in Turkey

Source: FAO (1978 and 1984).

Table 4.4. Annual production of sheep and goat milk in Turkey.

Source; FAO (1978 and 1984).

The greatest part of the wool produced by the sheep in Turkey is of coarse-wool type; most of it is used in the carpet industry. Mohair produced by Angora goats is a valuable textile fiber and an important export commodity. These species also provide skins needed by the growing leather industry of the country. Production figures for these items are given in Table 4.5.

Table 4.5. Annual production of wool, mohair, hair and fresh skins (in tons)

Sources: (1). SIS (1984).
(2). FAO (1978 and 1984).

Milk, wool and skins obtained from sheep and goats are used almost completely for domestic purposes. Part of the mutton and lamb, live sheep and goats and of the mohair produced in the country are exported. Exported quantities and export values of these items are given in Table 4.6.

Table 4.6. Exports of the main sheep and goat products from Turkey

Source: DTFT, 1985.

Live sheep and goats are mainly exported to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait and Dubai, and mutton and lamb to Iran, Algeria, Iraq as well as to the above Near Eastern countries.

With the exception of fine-wool, importation of sheep and goat products into Turkey is negligible. About 20–25 percent of the greasy fine-wool required by the textile industry is produced within the country. and the remaining 75–80 percent is imported. During the years 1981–1984, quantities of fine-wool (mostly greasy) annually imported into the country varied from 8.0 to 14.4 thousand tons. (SIS, 1985).