Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Yumaklı: We are destroying non-compliant products

Yumaklı attended the deliberations on the 2026 Central Government Budget and the 2024 Final Account Law proposal, which were discussed at the Planning and Budget Committee, and answered questions from members of parliament regarding his Ministry.

Regarding the allocation of 1 percent of the gross national product as agricultural support, Yumaklı said, "Article 21 of the Agriculture Law states that the resource allocated from the budget should not be less than one percent. As we have announced in previous years, this is not limited only to direct support given to producers. In other words, there are investment appropriations for the agricultural sector. There are credit subsidies. There are intervention purchases. In total, it corresponds to 1.14 percent."

In response to a question about pasture lands, Yumaklı said, "According to the 1991 agricultural census of the Statistical Institute, it was 12.6 million hectares. The latest agricultural census was in 2001, where it was 14.6 million hectares. I would like to state that this figure is 13.4 million hectares based on on-site detection studies within the scope of our Ministry's pasture law, as well as data provided by remote sensing systems and cadastral data in recent times. These findings are not just things we state as text. We keep all of the pasture areas under record in the digital environment in the Pasture Information System along with their coordinates. 88 percent of these areas have been allocated to our producers in the villages," he said.

Regarding the number of farmers, Yumaklı said, "There are many things related to the number of farmers and cultivated areas, but at least regarding the last five years, in 2021 it was 2 million 773 thousand 9 people. As of October 2025, it has risen to 2 million 363 thousand 734 people. The area was 151 million 642 thousand 705 decares in 2021. It became 170 million 126 thousand 627 decares. Of course, there was a law passed by our Parliament that is valuable regarding bringing unused or uncultivated agricultural lands into the economy. We have carried out our procedures in accordance with this. I can say with pleasure that a great awareness has been formed on this issue. We also want our farmers and producers to cultivate their own lands themselves or have their children do it," he spoke.

Yumaklı responded to a criticism that pesticides are not inspected in the domestic market as follows:

"In the world, pesticide use is 10 kilograms per hectare in Japan, 7 kilograms in the Netherlands, and 4.2 kilograms in Italy. In our country, it is 2.4 kilograms. Of course, our colleagues are conducting these inspections as much as possible with risk-based audits and statistical methods to ensure that there are no pesticide residues and no off-label use. We are destroying non-compliant products."

Noting that support is provided by anticipating diesel and fertilizer prices, Yumaklı said, "In wheat production, approximately 6 liters of diesel, 25 kilograms of base fertilizer, and 15 kilograms of top fertilizer are used. The total cost of diesel and fertilizer per decare for wheat is 822 liras. The amount to be paid within the scope of basic and planning support is 806 liras. Therefore, we are paying the entire cost of diesel and half of the cost of fertilizer as support. Our olive payments are like that, but there is no question of anything else other than this," he said.