In Turkey Farmers have been active protesting in order to draw attention to the challenges facing the agriculture sector. Protests have been frequent as well as reported in provinces including Bursa, Kahramanmaras, Balikesir, Aksaray, and Nigde. The protests are designed to give awareness to the struggles endured by people working in agriculture by highlighting the negative impact on the rising costs of production and inflation.

Farmers are conscious of the differences in the rates that they offer their product and the price of retail in the markets. There’s a significant difference, for instance that onions and potatoes being sold at a lower price at the level of farms when compared with their retail prices. According to the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers have provided figures showing that potatoes are priced at L4 per kilogram by farmers but getting to L15 in the market. Similar to onions, they go from being L2 on the farm and L17 at the retail setting.

The growing costs of fuel, seeds, fertilizer as well as labour costs are among the main concerns of farmers, who say that the viability of the Turkish agricultural sector is in the risk. The ongoing protests are a source of concern for the agriculture community is trying to raise awareness about the urgent issues.

[ L10 = EUR0.27 ]

Source: turkiyetoday.com