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It has been determined that the production of fruit, beverage and spice plants and vegetables in the Eastern Anatolia Region is not sufficient. It was also emphasised that the production of field crops should be expanded.
It has been determined that the production of fruit, beverage and spice plants and vegetables is not at a sufficient level in the Eastern Anatolia Region, which has important agricultural production areas of the country.
In addition to the limited variety and yield of agricultural products as a result of the geographical and climatic conditions of the Eastern Anatolia Region, it has been observed that the use of agricultural land in very small pieces reduces productivity and efficiency in the agricultural sector.
“Field crops production needs to be popularised”
In the Eastern Anatolia Development Project (DAP) Action Plan, it is stated that the provinces of Elazığ, Erzincan, Iğdır and Malatya, where the elevation is lower compared to the other provinces of the region, have an important potential, especially in fruit and vegetable production, “When the share of plant products produced in the DAP Region in the total agricultural area is examined, it is seen that the highest rate belongs to cereals with 42 percent. Then, other plant crops (fodder crops, industrial plants and medicinal plants) appear with 25 percent. The crops produced at the lowest rate in the region are fruit, beverage and spice plants and vegetables. From this point of view, in order to expand the production of field crops, planned production should be carried out to surge agricultural yield by determining which product, in which region, how much to produce, taking into account climate, soil, topography, water constraint and crop rotation.”
“Türkiye’s 70 percent of forage crops production belongs to the region”
Looking at the value of crop production per capita, it was emphasised that a spike was achieved in all provinces in the region from 2013 to 2019, “While the highest value was obtained from Erzincan province in 2013, in 2019, it was obtained from Sivas province. Although Sivas, one of the provinces in the region, has the highest area in terms of agricultural land, Malatya is the province that produces the highest added value in terms of crop production values. The reason for this situation is that fruit production is dominant in Malatya. As can be understood from the crop production data, apricot and sainfoin have the highest share in Türkiye. These are followed by clover, tomato and vetch production. On the other hand, the region has 70 percent of the country in fodder crops production. Since the livestock potential is high in the region, the production of fodder crops is also high.”
“Vegetable production in the region is limited”
According to the results of the research, which emphasised that Malatya and Elazığ provinces should be examined separately from other provinces when the fruit growing in the region is examined, Malatya and Elazığ provinces have 74.6 percent of the total established orchard area of the region, while Malatya alone has 57.1 percent of the total established orchard area of the region, “Malatya has a special importance in dried apricot exports as it is the most important apricot production centre of the country. Production in the province, which provides more than half of Türkiye’s fresh apricot production, is intensively oriented towards dried apricot production. However, approximately 90-95 percent of dried apricots are exported. From this point of view, Malatya is not only the apricot production centre of Türkiye but also of the whole world with the number of trees and the amount of fresh and dried apricot production. Vegetable production in the region is limited. In order to boost vegetable production, it is important to encourage the cultivation of vegetables that can be produced especially under regional conditions and the production of greenhouse vegetables in suitable areas.”
