Agricultural production will recover this year, says Minister

ANKARA

Agricultural production that declined last year due to frost and drought will recover this year, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı.
“I can even say that we may break records in some products,” he said.
Yumaklı noted that, according to data from the past seven months, this has been the rainiest year in the last 66 years. He added that the average water level in dams has risen above 75 percent and emphasized that there will be no problems with irrigation this year.
Speaking at an event for the World Farmers’ Day on May 14, Yumaklı stressed that climate change and regional tensions directly affect production costs and supply chains, and said that the ministry plans all its steps with this awareness.
“The Grain Board (TMO) is ready for the new harvest season with a storage capacity of 20 million tons. We are continuing to strengthen our production planning, which we started two years ago and are now seeing results from,” he also said.
Yumaklı added that with the “Transformation Project for Employment and Rural Welfare in Turkey’s Agriculture and Food Sector,” a new phase will begin in the sector.
“Within the project, a credit volume of around $500 million is planned for farmers who have difficulty accessing financing and are engaged in primary production. We will create new marketing channels for about 400,000 farmers and provide new job opportunities for 250,000 citizens,” he said.