Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Ankara, TZOB President Şemsi Bayraktar said recent frost and floods had damaged the harvest and that most producers were having trouble meeting their obligations. “We call on the government to postpone farmers’ debts in loans and social security [SGK] premiums.”
Greenhouses and farms particularly in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions were heavily hit by a flood in February, Bayraktar recalled. The union head said they expected a decline in the harvest of produce this year. Some unprecedented drops in temperature also worsened the problem, he added.
Bayraktar said heavy frost had hit the hazelnut harvest in the Black Sea region, while farmers sustained losses, particularly those cultivating apricots, grapes and peaches in the South Anatolian, Central Anatolian and Mediterranean regions. He also noted that most producers failed to receive compensation from insurance companies since their contracts exclude losses resulting from natural disasters. “Producers owe money to agricultural credit cooperatives, Ziraat Bankası and the SGK. But they cannot repay their debts. We demand that these debts be postponed.”
