ISTANBUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural experts in Türkiye are calling for improved planning, enhanced education, and sustainable practices to ensure the country's food security and foster rural development.
Murat Kapikiran, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, emphasized in a recent interview with Xinhua that the sector's lack of reliable data and effective planning, warning that without the right policies, misguided approaches will lead to abandoned villages, declining production, and neglected lands.
He urged all relevant institutions to adopt more effective agricultural planning to increase production, prevent rural depopulation, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Kapikiran also proposed establishing democratic cooperatives to help farmers self-regulate, increase profitability, and tackle financial and supply chain challenges.
In Malatya, Türkiye's eastern province, Fevzi Cicek, president of the Malatya Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, emphasized the need for Türkiye to produce more than it consumes to avoid dependency and poverty.
Necip Kati, principal of the Malatya Agricultural Vocational School, underscored the role of education in meeting the sector's growing demand for skilled workers. He stressed that agricultural schools offer hands-on training in areas such as crop production, greenhouse operations, and livestock farming, equipping students with practical knowledge to support the industry.
Official statistics reveal that approximately one-third of Türkiye's 78 million hectares of land is arable. ■
