Statement from the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers on World Farmers' Day: It should be a day of questioning, not celebration

Making a statement regarding May 14 World Farmers' Day, Chamber of Agricultural Engineers (ZMO) Chairman Remzi Suiçmez said, “May 14 should no longer be a day of celebration, but a day to question the problems being experienced and find solutions.”

The statement included the following expressions:

THE PROBLEM OF "CHEAP IN THE FIELD, EXPENSIVE ON THE SHELF"

Despite the difficult conditions we are in, our farmers, who continue to produce, feed our people, protect our soil, and serve our country with their sweat, are celebrating the 40th World Farmers' Day with a heavy heart due to the problems that are increasing every day.

As a result of the neoliberal agricultural policies that have been implemented in our country since the 1980s, our agricultural sector and our farmers are facing very serious problems. In extraordinary processes such as the global pandemic, severe drought, the deepening economic crisis, earthquakes, and war conditions, the failure to take concrete measures for domestic production and producers has further increased the serious problems being experienced. Without finding concrete solutions to the problems in our country's agricultural production, the addition of new ones every day, the unceasing continuation of simplistic approaches to solving problems in inputs and products through import-oriented policies, and the withdrawal of farmers from production because they cannot make a profit due to the lack of timely and sufficient support in the face of high agricultural input costs, have become the unchanging topics of the agenda in recent years as consumers try to access expensive food products in the face of ever-increasing food inflation. While the field of agricultural public administration is being left entirely to the control of foreign and domestic companies and the mercy of the free market, the absence of closed agricultural State Economic Enterprises (KİT) and the weakness of dysfunctional cooperatives prevent farmers from intervening in the market. The fact that the voices of farmer organizations are not heard in a timely and strong manner also makes it difficult for farmers to get the return for their labor. Official TÜİK data is neither current nor realistic, and efforts to suppress product prices at harvest time by announcing low base prices based on a low-reported input price index continue. The mistake of suppressing producer prices through imports made at harvest time continues today. Purchase prices that include farmer profit and welfare shares based on real production costs are not announced, purchase guarantees are either not given or sufficient purchases are not made, and despite the high price difference formed in domestic and foreign markets, no price difference payments are made to farmers. In an environment where small family businesses have to borrow from banks, agricultural credit cooperatives, and the private sector to continue production, and where credit interest rates are not in favor of the farmer, farmer debts are constantly increasing, and producers are being pushed out of production by having their production tools seized in exchange for mortgages. The feed-milk-meat equation is against the producer, and the slaughter of breeding animals negatively affects consumers in terms of consuming sufficient meat and milk. Energy costs prevent sufficient irrigation. While agricultural lands, pastures, and olive groves are rapidly being opened for non-agricultural use, farmers are giving up on planting their own land and abandoning it due to problems in the production environment. The average age of farmers is quite high, and young people are not interested in agriculture. While child and female labor continues to be exploited, the problems of seasonal agricultural workers have still not been solved. The stage of marketing the products produced contains as many serious problems as the production problems themselves. Due to reasons such as the Law on Wholesale Markets, the monopolistic structure of chain markets, and the contract farming model that works against farmers, problems in the food supply chain cannot be resolved, and the problem of “cheap in the field, expensive on the shelf” cannot be solved with performative shelf raids and inflation teams.

"THE LAST SECTOR TO MAKE SAVINGS IS THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR"

Today, when we are not self-sufficient in basic plant and animal products, the total debt of producers to banks and individuals has exceeded 850 billion TL while their short-term debt is constantly increasing. Mortgages have been placed on the title deeds of 2,230,000 farmers. According to Social Security Institution (SGK) data, the number of active insured farmers, which was 1,056,000 in 2012, has fallen to 460,260 today. While the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 11% in 2021, the agricultural sector grew by 2.2%, and while it increased by 4.5% in 2023, the agricultural sector shrank by 0.2%. The agricultural input price index is at a very high level at 49.9%, and the agricultural producer price index is at 61.87%. According to April 2024 TÜİK data, we are first among EU and OECD countries and third in the world with 68.5% food inflation. Today, both producers and consumers in our country are unhappy and cannot see what lies ahead. On the day when the new public savings circular is announced, we say once again: The last sector to make savings should be the agricultural sector, and the last budget to be saved should be the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

CALL FOR PRECAUTIONS

The problems experienced in the field of agriculture and food are clear, and the proposed solutions are also clear. To solve the problems, it is a necessity to rapidly implement policy preferences that are in favor of society, in favor of production, and in favor of labor. Learning from the protectionist agricultural policy preferences that have come back to the agenda on a global scale, instead of the import-dependent neoliberal policies in our country, a change to a “public-oriented agricultural policy” aimed at national interests and the benefit of society should be made as soon as possible. In a world where hunger, famine, and food wars are not experienced, our main goal should be to ensure that all our citizens, together with our producers and consumers, live happily in prosperity in a healthy environment by ensuring food sovereignty, food security, and food safety. In this context; first of all, “Land Use Planning” should be carried out at the national level to protect our agricultural lands and production areas. A transition should be made to “Agricultural Production Planning” that will ensure an increase in production quantity, product diversity, and production continuity in our protected and irrigated agricultural lands, especially in large plain protection areas at the country and regional levels, and will be directed with concrete supports to be paid on time as determined in the Agriculture Law. An “Agricultural Production Mobilization” should be declared at the national level, input costs should be reduced, cheap credit opportunities should be created, and increased product and input supports should be given to production and producers on time. Especially for basic products, purchase prices should be announced in advance based on real costs, purchase guarantees should be given, and if necessary, price difference payments should be made at the end of the season. Animal production should not be considered separately from plant production, feed costs should be reduced, and the milk-feed parity should be applied as 1/1.5. Public irrigation investments and land consolidation services should be completed without delay. Serious investments should be made in R&D studies, and efforts towards domestic input and technology production should be accelerated. Imports of agricultural raw materials and products should be restricted, and export opportunities should be increased. Democratic, autonomous, and strong cooperativism should be supported at the producer and consumer levels, and all stages of the food supply chain should be reorganized for the benefit of the public. Measures should be taken to develop rural areas, support small family farming, which is the reality of our country, and ensure that our farmers are more involved in social life as well as increasing their welfare level. Perhaps most importantly, our producers, who struggle to see what lies ahead despite feeding all consumers selflessly, should be given the value they deserve, the morale of our farmers should be raised, and their trust in public administration should be refreshed.

May 14 should no longer be a day of celebration, but a day to question the problems being experienced and find solutions. As the TMMOB Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, which brings science together with the farmer and the soil and is with our farmers at every stage of agricultural production, we wish for days when the sweat and labor of our farmers will be seen as the highest value, and we wish you a happy May 14 World Farmers' Day.