Rising Diesel and Input Costs Squeeze Farmers
· GıdaTarım
Increases in fuel, seed, and fertilizer prices are escalating agricultural costs, leading producers in Osmaniye's Kadirli district to state they can no longer cultivate their fields and calling for support.
Record Fuel Price Hikes
New price hikes have been reflected in fuel costs due to fluctuations in global markets and currency exchange rates. With the latest regulation, diesel prices increased by 7 lira 72 kuruş, and gasoline by 2 lira 48 kuruş. Following these increases, diesel prices exceeding 90 lira per liter have pushed agricultural production costs to their peak. Producers in Kadirli, Osmaniye province, expressed that they are unable to plant and cultivate their fields in the face of fuel prices, which constitute their largest expense item.
Input Costs and Corn Prices
The increase in seed and fertilizer costs is also straining producers in agricultural production. The Kadirli Regional Farmer, explaining the cost pressure and market conditions they are experiencing, made the following assessment:
'On one hand, a disaster, on the other hand, corn is 13 lira. The Turkish Grain Board (TMO) has not announced the price of corn, so traders are buying it for 12.5-13 lira if they can. The cost for this is already 14 lira per decare. I sow one bag of corn on 5 decares of land, and seed costs 2,200 lira per decare. Fertilizer has gone from 18-20 lira to 36-38 lira. How will farmers manage? If you don't use at least 150 kilos of fertilizer, corn won't grow, and diesel is an additional cost. Let them come and take the land themselves, let it be theirs. This is not right, it's a shame for these people. People are going on vacation, while that farmer is irrigating corn, peanuts, and cotton in 40-degree heat, and ending up with nothing. We are going backwards, backwards. There's no planting anymore, it's over. Shame on this, how can this happen?'
The Uprising of the Farmer Unable to Till His Field
The Kadirli Regional Farmer, stating that the increase in diesel prices has made production impossible, described the situation on the ground with the following words:
'We can't till our fields right now. I am expecting a solution from the authorities. An 8 lira increase means the liter price will be 100 lira, what will you do with that? What will a farmer till with it? They can't till or plant anything.'
Farmers in Kadirli state that they cannot even till 30 decares of land with one tank of diesel and are awaiting urgent support.