waived for the 1967 wheat seed imports. From less than 0.01 percent of wheat area in 1966/67, CIMMYT varieties spread to 8.9 percent in 1968/69, giving 18 percent of wheat production (Aresvik 1975, p 168). Thereafter, government agencies steadily tested and introduced new varieties of spring wheat from multiple sources.

For the winter wheat areas, government imported US winter wheat in 1967 and also approved introduction of the variety Bezostaya from Russia in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, government registered several local crosses. Another technology transfer that boosted winter wheat yields on the Anatolian Plateau in the 1970s was introduction of the herbicide 2,4-D. With these new technologies, wheat yields rose from an average of 1.1 t/ha during 1962-1966, the five years before CIMMYT, US, and Russian wheats were introduced, to 1.8 t/ha in 1976-80. Over this 14 year period, wheat yields increased 3.6 percent per year (SIS 1981, p 3).

New Varieties for Cotton and Sugar Beets (Figure 4.3): Something similar seems to have occurred in cotton and sugar beets, where production-oriented government agencies introduced improved varieties from foreign lines as early as the 1950s and 1960s. Around 1950, government released foreign-origin Acala varieties. During the 1960s, government seed programs promoted new upland varieties locally bred and selected from Deltapine and Coker varieties imported in 1948 (Evans and Porter 1971, p 13). Cotton (lint) yields increased from an average of 216 kg/ha in 1945/46-1949/50 to 780 kg/ha in 1975/76-1979/80 (Cotton Advisory Committee 1993).

Over the years, cotton farmers also chaffed under varietal restrictions. John Elisham, the man who helped to introduce CIMMYT wheat, reports that a relative in 1930 planted seeds of an acala cotton variety that government had not approved, and again in the 1960s planted seeds from Syria of another cotton variety that government had not approved; both times government began but did not pursue court cases against him.

KWS, a German company that is a world leader in sugar beet breeding, began working in Turkey from 1928. In 1956, KWS became a partner with the government in Pan Tohum. KWS germplasm in Pan Tohum's sugar beet seeds contributed to large yield increases in the 1960s.

Livestock and Poultry (Figure 4.5): Turkey's programs for livestock development, both public and private, have been built around efforts to import and to extend foreign technology. Government began to introduce exotic cattle breeds from 1925. Other technology imports include feed premixes, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and equipment such as incubators.

The modern poultry industry in Turkey began in the 1960s. Pfizer began to sell poultry pre-mixes in the 1960s. In the 1970s, six private broiler breeder farms began operation, and Development Foundation of Turkey (TKV), a large production-oriented NGO, began its poultry activities (TKV 1992, part 1, p 10). Average annual increases in number of birds rose from 2 to 6 percent from the 1960s to the 1970s, while annual growth in egg production rose from 4 to 8 percent (SIS 1981, p 13; SIS 1994, p 15). Toward the end of the 1970s, continuing rapid growth brought some problems into focus. Poultry farmers faced more disease problems, while government controls blocked vaccine imports. Also, import controls disrupted markets for major feed components, including maize and soy meal.

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