Agricultural Employment Drops to 4.5 Million
· GıdaTarım
Agricultural employment in Turkey, which stood at 7.4 million in 2002, has fallen to 4.56 million by 2025, despite an increase in the total population.
Significant Decline in Agricultural Employment
CHP Niğde Deputy and Member of the Grand National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Affairs Commission, Ömer Fethi Gürer, announced the decline in the agricultural population at the General Assembly. According to the data shared by Gürer, in 2002, the number of people employed in agriculture was 7.4 million within Turkey's population of 69 million. By 2025, although the total population reached 86 million, the number of workers in agriculture fell to 4.56 million. Consequently, the proportion of agricultural workers in the total population decreased from 10.7% to 5.3% (5.23% in the records).
Reasons Driving Producers Away from the Fields
Drawing attention to the strategic importance of agriculture, Ömer Fethi Gürer evaluated the process of producers disengaging from the land. The primary factors causing farmers to leave the sector were listed as high input costs, structural problems in marketing, and insufficient support. Gürer emphasized that producers are withdrawing from the field due to rising costs and declining income, noting that this situation poses significant risks to food supply security and sustainability.