by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- For Ali Bulac, a Turkish farmer from Ankara province, the country's untamed inflation and the rising cost it spurs may leave him without any profit this year.

"Rising costs are outpacing the subsidies we receive from the state," said Bulac, who is among the thousands of farmers calling for more financial support from the state to stay afloat. "Everyone in this sector has contracted debts to be able to survive."

According to Bulac, a second-generation wheat and barley farmer, the costs of inputs, such as diesel, animal feed, labor, and fertilizers, have increased significantly in the past year, fueling a rise in the food cost, whose inflation stands at a staggering 70 percent in Türkiye.

A report released in January by the Union of Turkish Chambers Of Agriculture showed that the total loan debt of farmers to banks increased by 88.5 percent last year.

According to official data, Türkiye's annual inflation climbed to 68.5 percent in March, while the agricultural input price index increased by 49.92 percent annually, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced Friday.

For Veli Gelen, a farmer from the fertile northwestern province of Eskisehir, the rise in gasoline prices has dealt a blow to his middle-sized business.

"Agricultural diesel prices have increased by over 100 percent in a year, which is dramatic for all farmers as they have to use it for their machinery for harvesting or planting seeds," he told Xinhua.

Rampant inflation is also pushing next-generation farmers to quit.

"Young people are not interested in farming. This is sad for a sector that is supposed to be at the core of a country's future. Everyone has to eat to survive," Gelen said, noting that some farm owners in his region have sold their land and animals in the past couple of years and sought other ways out.

According to Ali Ekber Yildirim, an expert on agricultural policies, Türkiye's agricultural problems primarily stem from policy choices.

"2024 will be a difficult year for the agricultural sector as a whole," he said in a recently published video blog, stressing that farmers were anxious about their future as Türkiye is witnessing economic woes unseen in decades.

"They are uncertain about the amount of state subsidy they will receive throughout the year and whether the price of their production will be enough to sustain them for another year," said the expert.

In the face of rampant inflation, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture increased its budget by 45 percent for 2024, or around 2.9 billion U.S. dollars, to support farmers.

Historically, the agricultural sector has been Türkiye's largest employer and a major contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

But its share has declined in recent years amid various challenges and the number of farmers dropped to just under half a million as of 2022, according to official data.

While the Turkish economy recorded 4.5 percent growth in 2023, the agricultural sector contracted by 0.2 percent. Enditem

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