Engin Yeşil: Farmers will give up planting their fields

Speaking at the Cotton Trading Session held at the Diyarbakır Commodity Exchange (DTB), DTB President Engin Yeşil stated that for the continuity of production, the price per kilogram should not be below 29 TL, and that it is impossible to increase production at current prices.

He pointed out that in order to increase the production of cotton, which is a strategic product, support payments must be increased by taking input costs into account and must be paid on time.

"COTTON IS BEING SOLD BELOW COST AND IS NOT PROFITABLE"

DTB President Engin Yeşil emphasized that in order for farmers to plan for the future and continue cotton production, a transition to contract farming is necessary and support payments should be paid as advances. Stating that this would contribute to an increase in cotton planting areas, he said, "The premium support for cotton, which was 1.60 TL in 2022, has remained unchanged at 1.60 TL this year. The premium support needs to be increased to at least 4 TL. The production cost of seed cotton in the region is around 23 TL per kilogram. Cotton, which was sold below cost last year, is being sold below cost again this year, and there is concern that it will be sold below cost again next year. Looking at input prices, diesel, which was 18 TL last year, is now 41 TL, fertilizer has gone from 8 thousand TL to 13 thousand TL, and pesticides have increased similarly; in other words, input prices have increased 3-4 times, but unfortunately, neither the price of cotton nor the prices of other agricultural products have increased in the same way. The income from the cotton the farmer planted this year is not even enough for next year's field preparation. Therefore, the farmer will be forced to give up planting their field."

News Source: 12punto