Debts rise, land sales accelerate

The United Nations has been celebrating December 5 as World Soil Day since 2012, with the need to raise awareness about the dangers of soil loss. On Soil Day, attention is drawn to the fact that soil loss will grow even further in the coming years due to the concreting of fertile agricultural lands with buildings, factories, and tourist facilities.

As the country's population increases, the decrease in agricultural areas has caused the amount of land per capita to decline. According to statistics, while there were 3.9 decares of land per capita in 2005, this figure fell to 2.8 decares in 2022.

RESOURCES HAVE MOVED FURTHER AWAY

Şemsi Bayraktar, Chairman of the Union of Chambers of Agriculture of Turkey (TZOB), stated in his statement within the scope of Soil Day, "The loss of land by opening it up for zoning makes it difficult to produce locally in many provinces, forcing consumers in those provinces to pay more for fruits and vegetables. For example, 30-40 years ago, the fruit and vegetable source for our province of Istanbul was the districts of Istanbul and provinces such as Kocaeli and Sakarya. Fruits and vegetables were supplied from a distance of 50 kilometers. As a result of these provinces being opened to zoning and losing their land, the opportunity for local production decreased. The source moved further away; today, fruits and vegetables come to Istanbul from a distance of 600-700 kilometers. Due to the increase in costs, the Istanbul consumer is forced to pay more for fruits and vegetables," he said.

"LANDS ARE BEING DISPOSED OF"

Bayraktar said that the increases in agricultural production costs cause producers who cannot earn sufficient income to break away from production and dispose of their lands.

Bayraktar reminded that agricultural lands have ceased to be a means of production and have turned into investment tools, and that especially foreclosed lands are sold online via tender. He emphasized that local people cannot buy lands sold at prices above their value, and that such sales facilitate the work of those who want to buy land for non-agricultural purposes, paving the way for the use of lands for different purposes.

Agricultural lands of producers who are currently having difficulty rolling over their debts are being seized by banks through foreclosure and put up for sale via tender. The agricultural sector's credit debt to banks is around 551.1 billion TL, and 1.9 billion TL of this debt consists of non-performing loans.

There are agricultural lands put up for sale by enforcement and bankruptcy offices. On ilan.gov.tr, the website of the Press Advertisement Agency, over 1,290 fields, agricultural lands, vineyards, orchards, and olive groves are for sale via tender.

News Source: 12punto