Agricultural Support Budget Reaches 235 Billion Lira in 2027

October 29, 2026 · Tarım Dünyası

According to the annual program prepared under the coordination of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Strategy and Budget Directorate, the 2027 agricultural support budget has been increased by 40.2% to 235 billion lira.

2027 Agricultural Support Budget Finalized

The 2027 Presidential Annual Program, prepared by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Presidential Strategy and Budget Directorate, was published in the Official Gazette dated October 27, 2026, as an extraordinary issue. According to the data in the annual program, a total of 235 billion lira in direct resources was allocated from the central government budget for agricultural support services in 2027. While the agricultural support budget was 158 billion 550 million lira in 2025, it increased by 5.7% to 167 billion 634 million lira in 2026. In the 2027 budget, a monetary expansion of 40.2% was implemented compared to the 2026 period.

Delayed Payment Schedule and Justifications

In Turkey's agricultural support mechanism, payments are transferred to farmers in the following calendar year due to budget techniques. Therefore, the 235 billion lira cash resource planned for 2027 will actually cover the entitlements of producers who entered the fields in the 2026 production season. The primary reason for the 40.2% increase in the budget is cited as the rise in input costs. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pointed to the soaring diesel and chemical fertilizer prices due to geopolitical tensions in the region, announcing that farmers would be protected against increasing cost pressures and that support coefficients would be revised.

Updates to Key Support Figures

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated that supports would be increased based on post-harvest cost calculations. With the Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette dated September 8, 2026, the basic support amount, previously announced as 310 lira per decare for the 2026 production year, was increased by 57 lira to 367 lira per decare. This payment will be credited to producers' accounts in the spring months of 2027. In line with the same legal regulation, the basic support amount per decare for the 2027 production season was recorded as 442 lira.

Model Change Despite Record Production

According to the 2026 Crop Production 2nd Estimate data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute on October 22, 2026, total crop production volume reached a record 143 million tons. However, the area-based support, which replaced premium support, caused producers who achieved high yields to experience income loss. Since per-kilogram difference payments were not applied, a farmer harvesting 200 kilograms of wheat from their field and a producer who obtained 500 kilograms of product with high input investment were subject to the same decare support.

Deviation from Budgetary Target in Legislation Continues

The Presidential Annual Program data concretely shows that legal obligations are not being met in budget preparations. Law No. 5488 on Agriculture, enacted in 2006, contains a clear commitment in its Article 21:

"agricultural supports shall be at least 1% of the gross national product"

If the legal provision were fully implemented, 1 trillion 112 billion lira would have had to be allocated from the general budget for 2027 to the agricultural support pool, instead of 235 billion lira. The total allocated resource remained significantly below the legal threshold.

Record Share for Crop Production Supports

Within the program, 56.5% of the agricultural budget was allocated to crop production. Crop production support payments, which were 90 billion 889 million lira with a 54.2% share in 2026, increased by 46% to 132 billion 730 million lira in the 2027 budget. Potato wart support, applied in 2025 and 2026 as compensatory payments, was completely removed from the 2027 program. The entire 3 billion 242 million lira budget in the compensatory payments section was allocated to tea pruning compensation and expenses.

Limited Increase in Livestock Items

In the annual program, the share of livestock support in the total budget increased by only 0.5%, from 21.8% to 22.3%. While the livestock item was 27 billion 950 million lira in 2025, it was carried to 36 billion 615 million lira in 2026 with a 31% increase. In the 2027 budget, this figure became 52 billion 504 million lira with a 43.4% increase. The sector, which received a 23.3% share of the total budget in 2024, could not regain its previous share with the transition to the new support model.

Rural Development and TARSİM Allocations

The share of supports for rural development in the budget showed a downward trend. The rural development budget, which was 10 billion 200 million lira in 2025, had increased to 14 billion 200 million lira in 2026. In 2027, it was only increased by 12.7% to 16 billion lira, and its budget share fell to 6.8%. The TARSİM premium support transferred to the agricultural insurance pool was increased by 30.4% to 30 billion lira. The 'other agricultural supports' item was projected at 523.5 million lira for headings such as certified seeds and irrigation.

Zeroed Difference Payments and Supply Deficit

Premium payments, abolished within the scope of the planned production model, were also not included in the 2027 budget. The Presidential Decree clearly regulated this in the Official Gazette dated August 29, 2024:

"Difference payment support shall be provided to facilitate farmers' compliance with the aims and principles of agricultural policies, ensure sustainability in production, and compensate for income losses, taking into account production costs and domestic and international prices in the relevant production year, primarily for products with supply deficits or within the scope of planning. Each year, the products to be covered by difference payments and the payment amounts shall be proposed separately by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance."

Despite this legal framework, the relevant appropriation was not reflected in the budget. While a supply deficit persists for cotton and sunflower, the difference payment appropriation was completely zeroed.

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