3rd International poultry meat congress gets underway
The International Poultry Meat Congress organised by the Turkish Poultry Meat Producers and Breeders Association (BESD-BIR) has gotten underway in Antalya, Turkey.
The biennial event is now celebrating its third outing and is enjoying increased participation and success each time. The event is being held from 22nd-26th April with invited speakers from all over the world.
The congress was opened by chairman, Prof Necmettin Ceylan, Dr Sait Koca, president of the Turkish poultry meat producers, Ibrahim Yigit, president of the committee on agriculture, forestry and rural affairs and Ibrahim Őzcan, a representative from the ministry of agriculture.
Poultry sector in Turkey
Dr Koca addressed the over 1,000 participants including visitors from 27 countries about the current state of the Turkish poultry sector and the continued improvements the sector is making. He acknowledged the huge momentum the industry has had over recent years with poultry meat production in 2014 having a staggering 8.8% increase over 2013 and turkey meat increasing two-fold since 2000. “This is beyond expectations,”Koca declared.
Along with poster presentations and a small tradeshow, 19 sessions are planned. The first session was kicked off by Dr Paul Hocking from the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, who spoke about the contribution of genetic selection and breeding structure to the economic development of the poultry industry. In a well-attended session, Hocking highlighted the improved FCR’s which have been attained over the last 50 years, claiming that dietary changes only account for 15% of this. “Feed efficiency changes are mostly genetic,” he stated.
The role of public opinion
The opening day closed with a lively speech by Dr Ali Atif Bir, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, who focused on information pollution by the media and its association with the poultry industry. “Public opinion shapes food policies,” he stipulated while highlighting the fact that media can report situations without any scientific merit. “Unless you understand public opinion, you don’t know where to start,” he warned the attendees.
In the following two days, there will be three simultaneous sessions highlighting a broad range of topics relevant to the international poultry industry. Speakers include noted poultry scientists from the Netherlands, the US, the UK and naturally Turkey.
A full report of the event will be available in an upcoming edition of World Poultry magazine.
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