Agricultural Subsidies Alone Cannot Solve Income Crisis

September 9, 2026 · GıdaTarım

Experts evaluating the increase of the crop production support coefficient to 442 TL/decare for 2027 stated that the routine budget calendar will not be sufficient to compensate for producers' market-driven losses, and direct market intervention is necessary.

Market Regulation and Subsidy Differences

The increase of the coefficient value to 442 TL/decare in crop production supports for the 2027 production year has brought new discussions to the sector. Emphasizing that the subsidy increase alone will not be a solution to the income crisis experienced by farmers in the market, Agricultural Policies Expert Ergin Kahveci made the following assessment on the subject:

Subsidy allocations do not guarantee price, meaning sustainability. The main thing is price and market regulation.

Kahveci stated that market intervention is mandatory in compensating for producers' losses.

Timing Issue of Subsidy Payments

Drawing attention to the functioning of the agricultural subsidy calendar, Ergin Kahveci reminded that the allocations in the budgets cover past entitlements. Accordingly, just as the resource in the 2026 budget was spent for the 2025 production period, the 2027 budget will cover the 2026 production period, he stated. Kahveci argued that market-driven losses incurred by the producer in 2026 should not be eroded within the routine subsidy calendar, and that delayed payments would damage the producer's income stability.

Need for Emergency Intervention in Crisis Periods

Ergin Kahveci noted that in US and European Union practices, extraordinary supports for market crises are kept separate from standard payments. He stated that even if there is no special emergency fund for 2026 in Turkey, the farmer's grievance should not be delayed. In this context, Kahveci brought to the agenda the suggestion that a compensatory emergency intervention payment could be made to producers based on the difference between the support coefficient determined for 2027 and the 2026 coefficient.

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