Cyprus-Livestock and Poultry

Livestock was an important part of Turkish Cypriot agriculture. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the number of animals raised increased insignificantly. The number of cattle increased 40 percent, from 8,600 in 1975 to 12,038 in 1987, and the number of sheep rose from 147,609 in 1975 to 185,238 in 1987. The goat population was reduced by 3.3 percent in this period because of the damage goats did to vegetation. During this same period, milk production increased by 50 percent, from 20,000 to 29,937 tons a year; meat production increased by 166 percent, from 1,891 to 5,320 tons; and poultry production increased by 265 percent, from 800 to 2,920 tons. In 1985, 1986, and 1987, live animal exports to Arab countries were an important Turkish Cypriot export. For example, government statistics indicated that 20,596 sheep and 11,104 goats, worth TL1.6 billion, were exported to Arab countries in 1987. Live animal exports fell in the next two years; it was not certain what future trends would be.

A large and modern meat and poultry factory, financed by Turkey, was built in the second half of the 1980s to meet long-term consumer needs for these products. Completed in 1989, with an annual processing capacity of 6,000 tons of sheep meat, 2,600 tons of cattle meat, 1,000 tons of goat meat, and 3,000 tons of poultry, the plant could also use bones, leather, and other substances for food and other purposes. Despite its sanitary advantages and highly economic production costs, the plant's opening was prevented by local agricultural interests.

Data as of January 1991