As long as we continue our production activities with incorrect calculation methods, unfortunately, we will not able to develop deep-rooted solutions and to put forward a sustainable model. Therefore, we should focus on structural transformations in education, planning, infrastructure, health, environment, supervision, bureaucracy, associations, finance, sales and marketing processes.
The world has experienced tremendous changes in the last 100 years: habits, systems, consumption, economic models and even limits have been changed. Republic of Turkey, which was founded with modern and contemporary nations basic ideals, was established precisely in the middle of this transformation The many systems such as habits, economic, legal and administrative systems implemented during the Ottoman Empire have been transformed in the modern Republic. Our hundred of thousands martyrs lost during the national struggle years were not only the honorable, combatant, and patriotic people in these lands, but also they were our work force, intellectual capital, and alive memories. Republic of Turkey which was established after the arduous struggle aimed to be “modern and contemporary nation-state” instead of the Ottoman Empire claiming the universe domination.
IMPORT POLICY BROUGHT ALONG MANY DIFFERENCES IN AGRICULTURE
This new ideal brought along various revolutions. The modern Western societies and experienced people in those societies became leaders in the Republic of Turkey. Western practices have been changed due to the reforms of our Republic in many areas ranging from economic models to clothing such as legal and educational system, alphabet, settlement policy, and governance model. Our human resources, intellectual knowledge, and collective memory that we lost in the wars that had been continuing for many years, perhaps, might have caused to build “unique and original modern-contemporary systems for Turkey”. Indeed, the models of Western modern societies were imported in the circumstances of that time, the code of the Republic of Turkey was created. Perhaps, there was no time and ground to create our own and unique social contract, legal, economic, and sociological models. Our import policy, which started in the absence and difficulties, brought along many differences in agriculture. Soil, which is the primary subject in agriculture, reforms, and inheritance law have been radically changed by a new management form.
TURKISH AGRICULTURE MADE A BREAKTHROUGH WITH YIELD INCREASING PRACTICES
The systems such as demesne, timar were replaced by the modern inheritance law and private property legal. At the beginning, the differentiation that started from the soil was experienced by division of lands and using the lands freely which became private properly. This new experience caused to bring to the fore not labors who produce new experiences and own the know-how, but the actors who have financial forces. Although the establishment will, especially Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, insisted on the importance of agriculture and peasantry, the experienced structural transformations caused serious traumas. While Turkish agriculture made a breakthrough with increasing productivity practices such as a modern mechanization and institutes, it also began to face the pains of transformation which have been continuing for a century.
A NEW PAGE IN AGRICULTURE HAS BEEN OPENED IN THE LAST 15 YEARS
The contemporary society began to be perceived as a society “urban, secular, consuming, working in industry” in the later years of the Republic. Migration from village to city was encouraged, villages were forced to vacate, the agricultural population to decrease, the agricultural areas to remain empty, villages were condemned to be neglected with uncontrolled and unplanned resettlement policies. As a result of this, crooked urbanization in cities and lack of investment and backwardness in villages were experienced. Village population was condemned to the most basic investments and started gradually to move away from agriculture and the quality human resources in agriculture began to disappear. Residents who stayed in villages were considered “illiterate and in need of help”. Sociologically, differences in peasant and urban classes were created and the government has approached to agricultural activities with social assistance perspectives for a long time. In the last 15 years, Turkey has opened a new page in agriculture. Villages were provided with services such as electricity, water and roads, farmers were seriously encouraged to gain superiority in international competition. Fees were abolished in education and opportunity justice was provided to a great extent with modern schools, dormitories and universities. Shepherd had chances to study in the best schools in the country. These innovations brought along both individual success stories and European and world records in agriculture. We owned the largest agricultural product in Europe.
TURKEY HAS BECOME A GLOBAL ACTOR IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION THANKS TO PRODUCERS
Although experienced 100 years of planning and implementation errors, the ongoing unstable agricultural producers Turkey has become an important factor in the world today thanks to our devoted kissable hands in agricultural production. However, our producers force their sacrifice limits. The things “technological breakthroughs, climate changes, genetic opportunities and threats, increasing population, declining soil and water quality, wars, food supply security, bio-security, sustainability, e-commerce and migrations” which are experienced today expose us to encounter with a new wave of change in agriculture. This wave of change brings some responsibilities to all of us, especially policy makers, producers and consumers. “The lack of supply-demand balance, the rapid decline in labor, the problems in productivity and supply chains, the need for localization, the limited contribution of agricultural subsidies to productivity, and the increasing dependence on imports” are the main problem areas we need to deal with. In addition, high energy costs, intensive and expensive chemical drug and fertilizer use, price instability are other problematic areas to be managed.
ONLINE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING SOFTWARE SHOULD BE DEVELOPED
We need to plan, supervise and create an equitable value chain for all pre-harvest and post-harvest processes in the harvested crop. We have to make serious investments in bioenergy fields, prioritize geothermal greenhouses and producing electricity and fuel from fertilizer-agricultural trash-forest waste. As long as we continue our production activities with incorrect calculation methods, unfortunately, we will not able to develop deep-rooted solutions and put forward a sustainable model. Therefore, we should focus on structural transformations in education, planning, infrastructure, health, environment, supervision, bureaucracy, associations, finance, sales and marketing processes. We need to develop online management and planning software, including training activities, technological infrastructure and analysis systems for our producers. We can easily take steps to increase products efficiency by analyzing the big data that emerges in our agricultural production processes with the development of artificial technology intelligences.
ALL PARTIES MUST SHOULDER RESPONSIBILITIES
We have to identify regional specialties in agriculture and animal husbandry. We must ensure that producers take appropriate steps in their specialized areas. We have to restructure incentive programs to support the end product and reduce input costs through a transformation process with these steps. We have to provide competitive superiority in national and international markets by creating regional and global brands that will improve the quality of the product. We have to develop products in sociology that will appeal to every point of the world. We have to leave the raw material and semi-finished product in the export of agricultural products and increase the rate of full products. As the producers and consumers, there will be government policies that will open new steps for us, but the only key to be successful will be all of us shoulder responsibilities for that. When we set up mechanisms to ensure this unity and start to operate we will encounter with more quality, efficient, sustainable products at the harvest time. There will be an ecosystem that consumers and producers earn together. If we can manage this, we can create an agricultural sector where producers earn more money, live in prosperous conditions, and consumers consume healthy products at an affordable price and high increases in exports.
ABDULKADİR KARAGÖZ