THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
Related Articles
The aim is to reclaim 50,000 decares of idle rocky land in the Southeastern Anatolia Region for agriculture with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Hasan Maral, President of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration, told an Anatolian Agency (AA) correspondent that multifaceted efforts have been carried out for 36 years to develop the provinces in the region under GAP, one of the largest regional development projects in the history of the Republic.
Maral noted that the Southeast is Türkiye’s agricultural production powerhouse and expressed their desire to transform the region’s vast and fertile agricultural lands into an effective and value-added format.
‘There are 2.5 million decares of rocky land’
Maral stated that they are determined to continue their efforts to increase the region’s production potential and emphasised that they plan to contribute to the national economy by converting idle rocky land for agricultural use.
Pointing out that there are 2.5 million decares of rocky land in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, Maral said, “There are areas within this rocky land that can be made suitable for agriculture. There are areas where biodiversity will be preserved and areas that should not be interfered with, which may have the potential to be functional for different purposes in the future. We are currently completing an analysis of this 2.5 million decares of area. Within the scope of the GAP Action Plan 2028 target, we will carry out work to reclaim 50,000 decares of idle and rocky land in the region.”
“When you convert one hectare of dry agricultural land to irrigated land, you achieve an approximate increase in added value of 1,600 dollars. On rocky land that has never been used for agriculture, you actually achieve an additional income increase ranging from zero to 1,900 dollars. When you consider the entire area, this corresponds to a very significant income figure,” Maral concluded…
