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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
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