There are only a few days left until the harvest of wheat, the indispensable raw material of agricultural production and food industry. TZOB Chairman Şemsi Bayraktar said, "As every year, our farmers expect to get the income they deserve from the products they produce in the face of increasing costs," and added that while the average price of diesel fuel was 23 lira in the October-March period, when cultural processes in wheat are intense, this year it increased by 76 percent in the same period. He stated that the price of diesel fuel has increased by 40 percent in the last year, stating that it has exceeded 105 lira.
This year, the population of field mice, which woke up early from hibernation due to climate change, increased, and mice invaded cultivated grain fields in many provinces. This situation increased the cost of pesticides by 52 percent compared to last year. "In the cost calculation made by taking into account the expenses our farmers will make from the day they sow the wheat seed until the harvest, the average cost of wheat produced under dry conditions has increased by 62 percent compared to last year and was determined as 10 lira and 87 kuruş per kilogram," he said.
Stating that last year, Soil Products Office did its part and purchased more than 12 million tons of grain, mostly wheat, Bayrkatar said, “Naturally, the warehouses of Soil Products Office are full. Recent statements about the fullness of Turkish Grain Board's warehouses and the decrease in world wheat prices have made our farmers uneasy. In this regard, the responsibility of the Soil Products Office has increased this year compared to previous years. Our farmers did what was necessary and produced wheat that is of strategic importance for our country. "Soil Products Office should relieve our farmers as soon as possible by announcing the wheat price, which takes into account the production cost of 10 liras and 87 kurus before the harvest begins," he said.
Bayraktar said, "Soil Products Office should prepare its purchasing centers before the harvest begins, and if necessary, it should make bulk purchases, as it did last year, and announce that it will buy all the wheat received," and argued that Agricultural Credit Cooperatives and TÜRKŞEKER should also purchase wheat this year, as in previous years.
On the other hand, TZOB Chairman Şemsi Bayraktar pointed out that there is a risk of drought in 27,1 provinces where 15 percent of wheat production is carried out and said, “Changing climatic conditions make agricultural production difficult every year. Our farmers face risks that they cannot predict in every production season. While total precipitation has been above normal throughout the country since October, when the production period started this year, increasing temperatures brought different problems. In some regions, rainfall and the accompanying extremely hot weather increased the rust disease in wheat with increasing humidity, while the mouse population, which increased due to the hot winter months, put our farmers in trouble. According to the data we received from our Chamber of Agriculture; 27,1 percent of wheat production consists of Afyonkarahisar, Çorum, Çankırı, Yozgat, Kırıkkale, Konya, Karaman, Samsun, Kastamonu, Karabük, Isparta, Uşak, Bilecik, Aydın and Antalya. Insufficient rainfall in 15 provinces and temperatures exceeding 30 degrees in April. Air temperatures increase the risk of damage. "Drought is expected in wheat, where spring rains are very important, especially in these 15 provinces, if the expected rains do not occur," he said.
