Turkey's farmer union urges cash aid as 900,000 decares of crops hit by floods and storms

Turkey's Ziraat Odaları Birliği (TZOB) reported that natural disasters in the first half of 2026 damaged about 900,000 decares of agricultural land across more than 70 provinces. The events included floods, hail, frosts, storms, tornadoes and landslides, with floods accounting for roughly half of the affected area.

TZOB president Şemsi Bayraktar warned that the losses go beyond crops, wiping out farmers' investments in seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and labor. He cited FAO data showing global agricultural damage from disasters rising from $64 billion in the 1990s to $144 billion today, with a cumulative loss of $3.26 trillion since 1991.

The union called on the government to provide immediate cash assistance and to restructure debts owed to Ziraat Bank and Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, stressing that high insurance premiums keep many farmers uninsured.