Mehmet Demirel warns of Turkey's shrinking agricultural land and food‑security risk

Saadet Party Konya provincial chairman Mehmet Demirel said Turkey’s cultivated area has fallen from 26.579 million hectares in 2002 to an estimated 23.978 million hectares by 2025 – a loss of about 2.6 million hectares, larger than the size of Ankara province. He framed agriculture as a matter of national security, linking the decline to rising input costs, drought, water scarcity and the exodus of young people from farming, which together threaten food prices and future food security.

Demirel outlined a five‑point plan: protect arable land from non‑agricultural use, accelerate modern irrigation and drought‑resilient practices, establish permanent subsidies for fuel, fertilizer, seed and feed, incentivise rural youth entrepreneurship, and promote digitalisation and domestic technology in farming. He called for permanent mechanisms to support producers and safeguard Turkey’s self‑sufficiency in food.