Ebru Çelik
Reactions from producers continue regarding the purchase prices for wheat and barley announced by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) before the harvest had even concluded.
In the purchase prices announced by the TMO recently, it determined 16,500 Liras for durum and bread wheat, and 12,750 Liras for barley. Stating that these prices will not even suffice for costs, producers noted that agriculture is the only branch of industry that produces through debt and generates zero earnings.
Expressing that the ages of individuals engaged in agricultural production are now over 60, producers noted that, alongside farming reaching the point of extinction, the producer has been forced to migrate to cities and become cheap labour for capital due to the policies pursued by the government in agriculture, and that this is a conscious choice of the AKP regime. Conveying that the fields are, in turn, going to corporations, the farmers explained that they wish to continue producing and hoping, but are forced to migrate under these conditions. On the other hand, regarding the TMO making payments 45 days later, the producer said, "The villager does not like remaining in debt; those with debts have been left at the mercy of merchants."
COSTS ARE FAR ABOVE WHAT IS KNOWN
Uğur Samen, a member of Farmers' Union (Çiftçiler Sendikası) who engages in wheat production in Adana Çukurova, stated that producers do not include their own labour and daily wages when calculating costs. Saying that not only inputs but also equipment and the maintenance of equipment are a burden on the shoulders of the farmer, Samen said, “The depreciation calculation, which is important for our profession, is not being made. When you attempt to buy an average brand-new tractor, it costs millions. And then there are our agricultural implements that we use behind this tractor. When you line up these implements, they cost as much as a tractor price, even more. In other words, while cultivating a certain acreage of land for today and growing wheat, maize, barley, and soya—which is not the labour-intensive work I mentioned, but work done mostly with machinery—you need machine equipment worth millions of Liras, at least with discounted figures.”
FARMING IS THE MOST UNORGANISED, MOST ABANDONED PROFESSION
Saying that the producer does not accept the announced prices, Samen stated that the reactions are very justified but given impulsively. Emphasising that the organisation of farmers is highly insufficient, Samen made a call for organising and subsequently said: “Other sectors in this country are also unorganised, but farmers are the most unorganised and the most abandoned among them, and everyone makes money off the farmer. The tradesman sells agricultural pesticides, sells diesel, sells seeds, sells fertiliser. It does not matter, they buy it for a Lira, put their margin on top and sell it, making their money again. There is only one entity that does not earn: the producer.”
THE FIELDS LEFT EMPTY REMAIN FOR CORPORATIONS
Saying that input costs are constantly rising and, alongside this, the more the producer sows and plants, the more they lose, Samen stated that the land abandoned by the farmer is given to corporations and that this is a government policy: “Those who are now barely holding onto agriculture and the land are those whose land is small, inefficient, and who cannot support their family from here. When it reaches a certain point, they say, ‘All right, let me leave my land, go and get a job in the city.’ In the past, this was the logic. But the cost of sheltering, living, and holding on in the city has risen significantly. The average age of farmers is 60. Even if they go to the city, this farmer has rent, building maintenance fees, and there is no job. The farmer is a sower, the farmer is hope, they hope. We are in favour of production, of producing. When we abandon production, these lands go to corporations, they go to large firms. The 60-year-old producer who goes to the city becomes, once again, the cheap labour of capital.”
Speaking further, Samen said, "If thousands of people are being victimised in Çukurova, if thousands of producers are being victimised just so a few firms can become rich, this stems not from ignorance but from a preference. When the small farmer goes bankrupt, their land does not evaporate, it goes to corporations.”
WE PRODUCE WITH DEBT AND MAKE ZERO PROFIT
Mehmet Ali Yetim, who produces wheat in Keşan Kozköy, summarised the impasse in agriculture with the following words: "We put months of labour into lands that we lease for a rental fee of 5,000 Liras per dunam. Even this rental cost alone creates a cost of 6 to 7 Liras per kilogramme; we do not include pesticide, fertiliser, and labour expenses into this yet. It was said that the yield would be very good in Thrace this year, but while our expectation was 500 kilogrammes per dunam, we can currently only see 400 kilogrammes. When you obtain a yield of 400 kilos, the revenue you generate only covers the cost. We are probably the only professional group in the world that obtains zero earnings in return for their labour. Furthermore, we already conduct production with debt; no one's face is smiling.
With the current policies and this agricultural understanding of the government, it is impossible for this business to be sustained. There is nothing anyone can do. People are afraid to speak up, to raise their voices. You cannot determine the price of the commodity you produce yourself. TMO says it will purchase the product but states it will pay its money 45 days later. We have debts everywhere, we have a struggle for livelihood; we have no strength to wait. We will not be able to deliver the product to the TMO for its rightful price of 16.5 Liras; due to our debts, we will compulsorily have to sell it to the merchant for 14 to 15 Liras. The villager cannot remain in debt, they cannot sleep whilst they have debt. For this reason, in the end, they will say ‘to hell with it’ and dispose of their goods cheaply, and the producer will once again be left to the mercy of the merchant."
INPUTS INCREASED, PRICES CREATED HOPELESSNESS
Aside from the rising high cost of living, the energy market, which has experienced fluctuations for the last 5 months due to the US-Israel attacks targeting Iran, saw items such as diesel and fertiliser—the most vital inputs of agriculture—reach their peak even in the Agricultural Input Price Index (Tarım-GFE) of Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
According to TÜİK data, agricultural input costs demonstrated an increase of 34.26 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year, while the highest annual rate of increase was recorded in core products such as fertilisers and agricultural pesticides with 48.33 per cent. According to the data of the Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture (TZOB), the item that experienced the largest increase in input costs was fertiliser. Compared to April of last year, ammonium sulphate fertiliser increased by 104.3 per cent, ammonium nitrate fertiliser by 84.2 per cent, and urea fertiliser by 76.2 per cent in the last one year. The purchase prices indicated that they will remain below the costs of the producer.
According to the TZOB, while electricity prices rose by 25.1 per cent annually, agricultural pesticides increased by 27.8 per cent. In April, the price of diesel rose by 57.6 per cent annually.
Alongside rising costs, the increase in the announced wheat and barley prices compared to last year remained far below the increase in input costs. An increase of 22.22 per cent was experienced in wheat, which was sold for 13,500 Liras last year. In barley, the situation followed a worse course. The occurrence of a 15.91 per cent increase in barley, which traded at 12,750 Liras per tonne last year, caused a reaction from farmers. The purchase prices announced for this season could not come close to the input costs. While an increase of 22.22 per cent was experienced in wheat, which was sold for 13,500 Liras last year, the occurrence of a 15.91 per cent increase in barley, which traded at 12,750 Liras per tonne last year, caused a reaction from farmers.
GENDARMERIE OBSTACLE TO THE PRODUCER REACTING TO PRICES
Reacting to the wheat and barley purchase prices announced by the TMO for the year 2026 remaining far below costs and the high cost of living, farmers held a demonstration in the Cihanbeyli district of Konya. The path of the producers, who wished to march towards the Ankara road, was blocked by a gendarmerie barricade.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced that the TMO will make a payment of 16,500 TL per tonne for durum and bread wheat, and 12,750 TL per tonne for barley for the year 2026. Coming together in Konya Cihanbeyli against the misery prices, farmers held a demonstration.
The path of the producers, who wished to head out onto the Konya-Ankara road, was blocked by a gendarmerie barricade.
Reacting to the gendarmerie setting up a barricade and trying to obstruct the farmers, the farmers said, “By pouring our sweat into the soil, we are waiting for the return of the products we brought during the harvest period with a thousand and one efforts and sacrifices. We have no other expectation. Everywhere, controls at the entrances, not permitting passage... What is this anxiety? We collectively expressed an anxiety of ours regarding the service or the price. What is the purpose of this fear? I say this too: Konya stands tall, it does not bend.”
THE PRODUCER WHO COULD NOT SELL THEIR ONIONS DISTRIBUTED THEM TO THE PUBLIC
In the Kadirli district of Osmaniye, a farmer opened his field to the public when he could not sell the onions he produced. Citizens flocked to the field for free onions. While one citizen said, "We have become in need of dry bread and onions," another citizen said, "Those at our head have left us in need of this, what can we do. What shall we do, we will eat it."
Speaking here, one citizen said the following: "The onion is 40 Liras in the market, here it is free, but only if you put effort into collecting it. A word came, they said ‘there are onions’. We have become in need of dry bread and onions, as Mahsuni Şerif says." While another citizen said, "We did gleaning for onions, it is free, the man ploughed the field, he could not earn, so we came"; another citizen said, "We are gleaning for onions. Those at our head have left us in need of this, what can we do. What shall we do, we will eat it. We use it for savoury pastry, flatbread, for everything."
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İktidarın tarım politikaları üreticiyi sürgün ediyor, published in BirGün newspaper on June 8, 2026.
