Agricultural lands in Turkey is decreasing

According to the former official, for the last several years the areas of cultivation in Turkey have narrowed significantly. At the same time, the shift in food prices worldwide prevents importing the country’s agricultural products.

The former general manager of the Turkish Grain Board İsmail Kemaloğlu told that 15.3 million hectares of land used for cultivation and 2 million hectares are under non-cultivated lands. Around 15 per cent of the total lands are not used.

He pointed that Turkey’s annual import bill is approximately 3 million tons of wheat that worth $750 million. Also, 1 million hectares of arable lands are abandoned due to demographic trends in the country. It impacts the increase of distances between cultivation lands and agricultural industry places and growth of transportation costs.

On the other hand, Russia, as one of the largest grain importers from Turkey, applied export quotas and imposes additional taxes on shipments. 

Kemaloğlu said that considering the food prices volatility, the only way is to increase agricultural production and maintain costs.

Source: https://www.salaamgateway.com/story/agricultural-lands-in-turkey-narrowing-significantly-says-former-official?utm_source=Salaam+Gateway+Weekly+Newsletters&utm_campaign=b338a40ed9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_24_06_09_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c1e2a0613b-b338a40ed9-229603248