Farmers in various regions of Turkey continue their protests to make their voices heard due to rising production costs and products being sold below cost. Experts who stated that 2024 was an extremely negative year for farmers, draw attention to the fact that 2025 will be even worse. Problems such as farmers’ debts, insufficient support and external dependency are deepening the crisis in the agricultural sector. TMMOB Chamber of Agricultural Engineers Board Chairman Baki Remzi Suiçmez, Salihli Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman İbrahim Yüksel and Sarıgöl Chamber of Agriculture Chairman Ali İhsan Ülgen emphasized that urgent measures should be taken in agriculture.

Sarıgöl Chamber of Agriculture President Ali İhsan Ülgen criticized the agricultural situation in Turkey, stating that food inflation has increased and that all agricultural sector employees are in a difficult situation. Ülgen stated that the current government does not give the necessary importance to agriculture and emphasized that the public should enter the market with a partnership model to solve the problems. He also emphasized that urgent measures should be taken in agriculture. Ülgen said, “The weakening of exports and the fact that agricultural products remain on the field are making the situation worse. The fact that the country imports animals, hay and wheat is a shame in terms of agricultural independence. The situation of grape growers, tobacco growers, olive growers, cotton growers, in short, all producers is quite bad. We expect a worse period for agriculture in 2025. There is no indication that it will be good. High input costs threaten production.”

Baki Suiçmez stated that the increasing food inflation has supply and production-related reasons. Stating that farmers are dependent on inputs such as fuel, seeds, medicine and feed abroad in order to be able to produce, Suiçmez drew attention to the fact that the input price index is constantly increasing. Noting that this increase has reached 41,6 percent, Suiçmez stated that agricultural supports for 2024 are 91 billion TL and that this amount is planned to increase by 2025 percent to around 18 billion TL for 110. However, he emphasized that these supports melt away under inflation. Stating that the producer should price the products they produce above their cost, Suiçmez said, “Farmers are forced to use credit and the total debt reaches 850 billion TL. Farmers who mortgage their lands or tractors to get credit may face problems such as seizure and execution.” He added that if sufficient support is not provided, problems in production will continue.

Salihli Chamber of Commerce and Industry President İbrahim Yüksel stated that farmers in the region are in a difficult situation and said, “Melons and watermelons were left in the fields, and the yield of grapes was low. Our products were damaged by rain and hail and lost value.” Emphasizing that farmers demanded an interest-free postponement of their debts to the public, Yüksel said, “Our farmers are unhappy and tired; they are slowly withdrawing from production because they cannot earn money.” In addition, Yüksel stated that the transition to planned agriculture should be made urgently and that a contracted production application should be implemented between industrialists and farmers in the organized industrial zone. Yüksel said, “When there is excess product, industrialists do not comply, and when there is less, producers do not want to give. We want this situation to be regulated by law by the public.”

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