In addition to being the first economic activity in the history of humanity, agriculture maintained its importance as the main economic activity of the world economy until the 1st Industrial Revolution. The ration of agriculture in economic activity has gradually decreased with the development of technology and industry, however, its importance has never run out.
Although he fundamental authoritarian reflex in the 19th and 20th centuries focused on meeting the security needs in the field of defense, following the technological developments, and new and more profitable commercial applications, the needs in the field of agriculture never decreased. Since 1960, the world population has increased by more than 100%, and in parallel with this, the living areas have expanded causing a decrease in agricultural areas all over the world. Changing climatic conditions and increasing population inevitably reshaped the agricultural system all over the world, because food production was not sufficient to meet the growing population with traditional methods.
The Need of Food Does Not Decrease
Although the share of agriculture in the world economy shrinks, the changing world’s demand of food has been never changed. The demand for wheat, milk, meat, fruit, and seafood continues today as it was thousands of years ago, despite the fact that the techniques and practices in the field of food production, processing, preservation, transportation, and marketing have changed. This situation leads to the development of new agricultural technologies and new production models.
We are the First in Europe in Agricultural Production
When we look at the agricultural indicators of Turkey in recent years, we clearly see that cultivation sites are in parallel with the developments in the world, and product output increased as well. Turkey currently ranks first in Europe and 9th in the world in terms of agricultural production.
In the past, when agriculture and agricultural employment were mentioned, we would think about people who hoe or harvest in the field with traditional methods. However, this situation has changed with the advancing agricultural technologies. Today, when we talk about agriculture and agricultural employment, we mention not only about field workers and agricultural engineers but also agricultural technology developers, software developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs who work in these fields.
Young Talents Are Needed
The growing population and the need for the more efficient use of agricultural areas clearly show that we should attach more importance to this matter. The reason for this is that countries’ food security needs have reached a serious level after the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the defense industry. Because of this reason, production techniques that can reach maximum efficiency under current conditions, new technologies, artificial intelligence-supported solutions, investing in companies that conduct R&D studies in this field, and discovering young talents are becoming more and more important.
A New Era Begins in the Field of Agriculture: Green Collars
We will recognize the people who will have a role in this transformation process as “Green Collars”. Today, if we want to build an ecosystem in the field of agriculture and agricultural technologies that can last for the next century and beyond, we should renew the syllabus of the universities’ Agricultural Faculties and act more integrated with the field and production. We should develop special technology-centered programs in the field of agriculture. We should locate the faculties, which include all departments that can be related to agriculture, particularly Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, close to agricultural areas. In addition to that, we should maximize the cooperation between the field and the academy. We should educate all families who work in the field of agriculture and livestock with the licensed farming model. We should train knowledgeable, competent, and talented farmers who have licenses and transform our food supply security into an ecosystem that can provide for the needs of our future generations.
Abdulkadir Karagöz
