OVP Agricultural Targets May Hit Budget Constraints

September 15, 2026 · Tarım Pusulası

While the Medium-Term Program emphasizes Organized Agricultural Zones and planned production, the 382.99 billion lira budget ceiling allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry makes realizing investments difficult.

The Medium-Term Program (OVP) reiterates key themes for the agricultural sector in the 2027-2029 period, including planned production, combating food inflation, digitalization, and water management. Among the most concrete targets highlighted for this period are the Organized Agricultural Zones (OIZ) projects. Planned to be supported by renewable and geothermal energy infrastructure, these OIZ investments are targeted for implementation directly in the third quarter of 2027. These structures, intended to solve the sector's yield, processing, and logistics issues with an integrated model, appear to be the only concrete project with a defined timeline.

Despite the ambitious goals announced, budget constraints and allocation ceilings raise questions about the feasibility of these projects. According to official budget data, the total allocation ceiling for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for 2027 stands at 382.99 billion TL. Considering that this amount covers current expenditures, personnel salaries, and routine operations, it is calculated that it will barely cover direct producer support. There is a risk that the Organized Agricultural Zones, which require significant investment in infrastructure, energy, technology, and logistics, may remain only on paper within these budget limits.

Indicators within the OVP text reveal the structural problems and contraction the agricultural sector has faced recently. According to the document, the 10.5% agricultural contraction recorded in the second half of 2025 and the loss of 267,000 agricultural jobs in the same year are attributed to climate conditions. The approach of reducing price support by indexing it to past inflation increases the economic burden on farmers, who are dependent on external sources for input costs. Planning and contract farming models implemented without sufficient budget support are not enough to alleviate the producers' debt burden.

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