Istanbul, February 18 () - Turkey's annual red meat production passed over 1 million tonnes in 2014 for the first time, according to the Red Meat Production Statistics, released by Turkstat on Wednesday.

Annual red meat rose by 1.2 percent to 1.008 million tonnes in 2014, where more than 40 percent of it came in the 4th quarter at 402 thousand 335 tonnes.

Red meat production rose by 98.7 percent in the 4th quarter of 2014, against the previous quarter due to individual production due to Kurban Festival while the increase was at 9.3 percent on annual basis.

Cattle meat production increased by 101.2 percent in 4th quarter on quarterly basis and rose by 9.2 percent on annual basis to 352 thousand 886 tonnes, while sheep meat production increased by 68.9 on quarterly basis and by 5.4 percent on annual basis 36 thousand 525 tonnes.

Şemsi Bayraktar, Prosident of Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture, said Turkey's annual meat production had passed over one million tonnes for the first time in the history, which showed the steady growth in production, calling the authorities to stop meat imports.

"If the sources, at about 3.5 billion dollars, were used to support stockbreeding, instead of spending for meat imports, the production level would be higher" he said. "Our priority should be on supporting domestic meat production via bait and live stock incentives, instead of meat imports."