CHP warns of a food crisis in Turkey

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer has announced that the price of urea fertilizers  (1,800 Turkish Lira TL) and that of the diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizers  (2,200 TL) have increased to 14,700 TRY within a year.

 

Recalling that both types of fertilizers must definitely be used in order to ensure crop yields, the main opposition MP has said that several farmers used little fertilizer, if any, this year due to increasing prices. A second year of excoriating draught, and strict supervision of food retailers to “punish” price gaugers is also reverberating all the way back to the food supply chain, reducing farm gate prices.

 

Gürer has underlined that farmers no longer have the means to buy fertilizers in the face of the prices increasing on a daily basis.

 

He has said, “Just as the Soil Crops Office (TMO) imported wheat for 4,700 TRY and sold it to industrialists for 2,650 TRY in the domestic market, an intervention must also be made in fertilizers. A discount which would enable farmers to use fertilizers must definitely be introduced.”

 

CHP’s Ömer Fethi Gürer has also underlined that fertilizers directly affect plant production, legumes, grains and fruits, warning that if no fertilizers are used in this process, it will lead to a loss of crops and if no agricultural products are imported, it may lead to a food crisis in Turkey.

 

Gürer has recalled that not enough fertilizers were used in agricultural fields in Turkey in October due to the spike in fertilizer prices, indicating that a possible loss of crops may be reduced by half if enough fertilizers can be used for soil, seeds and plants in February and in spring.

 

The MP has emphasized that in addition to the unfavorable conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and drought, the increase in fertilizer prices may also lead to a food crisis in the country.

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“I am making a call to the President, the Minister of Treasury and Finance, the Minister of Trade and the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry: If no intervention is made in the prices of fertilizers, Turkey may enter a problematic and difficult process in food in the coming period,” he has said. (KÖ/SD)

 

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According to November survey of Metropoll agency, %34.4 of participants perceived food inflation to range 50-100%, while %36 claim the cost of their food basket soared more than 100%.

 

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Published By: Atilla Yeşilada

GlobalSource Partners’ Turkey Country Analyst Atilla Yesilada is the country’s leading political analyst and commentator. He is known throughout the finance and political science world for his thorough and outspoken coverage of Turkey’s political and financial developments. In addition to his extensive writing schedule, he is often called upon to provide his political expertise on major radio and television channels. Based in Istanbul, Atilla is co-founder of the information platform Istanbul Analytics and is one of GlobalSource’s local partners in Turkey. In addition to his consulting work and speaking engagements throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, he writes regular columns for Turkey’s leading financial websites VATAN and www.paraanaliz.com and has contributed to the financial daily Referans and the liberal daily Radikal.