Istanbul, Feb 22 The major twin earthquakes that struck southern Turkey this month have raised serious concerns about the country's agricultural capacity as the 10 hardest-hit provinces are home to about 3.58 million hectare of agricultural land, or 15 per cent of the nation's total.
The provinces are responsible for 15.5 per cent of all planted grains and crops, 15.2 per cent of vegetables and 25.2 per cent of fruit and spices in Turkey, with nearly a fifth of the $34.2-billion agricultural exports last year coming from the region, according to a report by the financial daily Dunya.
Agricultural drought had already been causing concern in Turkey even before the disaster, as the government released a five-year action plan for agricultural drought just a week before the devastating earthquakes, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Drought is something we are going to have to accept ... We need to take certain precautions to minimise it immediately," Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci said.
The massive earthquakes have only exacerbated the problem.
"With years of climate change, widespread drought, and serious risks faced by agricultural production during summer months ... we will reach their maximum level in the wake of the earthquakes," Yusuf Demir, a professor of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Ondokuz Mayis University, told daily Birgun.
"Farmers need to get hold of seeds, fertiliser, pesticides. Meanwhile, people are struggling to survive, their houses are destroyed, and their tractors don't work," he warned.
Toward this end, Kirisci, the Agriculture Minister, announced last week that nearly 50 million Turkish liras ($2.6 million) in agricultural support were being paid out to farmers.
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN issued a flash appeal "seeking $25 million to reach 900,000 rural people in all 10 affected provinces (in Turkey) ... over the next three months."
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