Climate Change and Agriculture
In general, all agricultural crops need soil, water, sunlight and warmth to grow. Climate is a dynamic component that affects all of the listed components. For this reason, the risk it creates for the agricultural sector is at a very high level due to the unknowns it contains. As stated in the "Climate-Oriented Policies" heading of TÜSİAD's 2020 Agriculture and Food Report;
While determining the agricultural policies for the next 10 and 20 years for Turkey, 2-3 ⁰C temperature increase and the effects of this increase on the climate should be considered as the hypothetical scenario and policy plans should be made within this framework. In temperature increases of 1.1-1.3 °C, the change in GDP decreases by 1% in the first period (2030-2034) and by 1.4% in the second period (2040-2049). While average yield losses are around 6-7% between 2030-2039, average yield losses reach 8-9% between 2040-2049. In general, even if the impact of change in climatic conditions is simulated only through the agricultural sector, the impacts permeate the rest of the economy significantly. Each degree Celsius increase in global average temperature is projected to reduce global average land yields by 6% for wheat, 7.4% for maize, 3.2% for rice and 3.1% for soybeans. Evaluating the results of around a thousand models used in the literature published around the world, the IPCC predicts 25-50% efficiency losses for 3-degree temperature increases (around the year 2050).
However, it is predicted that the annual yield variability of grains will increase. Since grain products are primary consumption products with low price elasticity, annual fluctuations increase the risk perception in international markets.
The Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural Enterprises are stated below;
Planting-planting problem, harvest-threshing problem, tillage problem, fertilization problem, Spraying problem, cultural problems (hoeing, pruning, etc.), yield problems, quality problems, problems in supplying irrigation water, plant diversity problems, increasing plant growth of increased CO2 concentrations.
Mitigation and Adaptation in the Agriculture Sector
The process of combating climate change is generally handled under two main headings as “mitigation” and “adaptation”. Mitigation policies, which mean alleviating the negative consequences of climate change, are generally used in the same sense as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation policies are another method adopted to combat the negative effects of climate change.
The IPCC summarized agriculture's mitigation practices in 2007 as follows:
Ensuring the management of fields and pastures to increase soil carbon storage,
Restoration of arable peat soils and degraded lands
Improved paddy farming techniques to reduce CH4 emissions
Livestock and manure management
Developed nitrogen fertilizer application techniques to reduce N2O emissions
Shallow tillage farming practices.
Existing organic farming farmers in Turkey are faced with various challenges as organic farming becomes more widespread. These include:
- Marketing and sales: Marketing and sales of organic agricultural products are more difficult than traditional agricultural products. The market share of organic products is still quite low and the demand for organic products is also low. Organic farmers may find it difficult to find suitable channels for marketing and selling their products.
- Certification: The certification process of organic agricultural products is quite long and complex. Organic product growers have to meet various requirements for organic certification of their products. It takes time, money and resources to meet these requirements.
- Product quality: The quality of organic agricultural products is expected to be higher than traditional agricultural products. However, if organic farming farmers cannot grow their products in accordance with the required standards, it will not be possible to certify their products as organic.
- Climate change: Climate change is an important problem faced by organic farming farmers. Problems such as climate change, especially drought and water shortages can complicate the production of organic agricultural products.
- Costs: Production costs of organic agricultural products may be higher than conventional agricultural products. Organic farmers may have to purchase more expensive products, such as seeds specially prepared for organic farming, organic fertilizers, and natural insect and pest control methods.
- Insufficient support: Organic agriculture farmers may complain that the government does not provide sufficient support for the production of organic agricultural products. In particular, incentives and loans are not offered to help small farmers reduce costs in the production of organic agricultural products.
Status of Current Organic Farmers in Turkey
The prevalence of organic agriculture in Turkey has increased in recent years. However, there is no definite data on the number of organic farming farmers in Turkey. According to TUIK's 2020 data, the total organic agricultural land in Turkey is around 1.6 million hectares and there are approximately 93 thousand organic farming enterprises in this area. In these enterprises, 215 thousand people are employed. Organic farming farmers are generally small and medium-sized businesses, mostly growing food products such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, milk and dairy products, meat and meat products. However, with the spread of organic agriculture in recent years, the production of other products such as organic cotton, organic olive oil, organic sugar, organic spices, organic tea has also increased. Organic farming farmers grow their products in accordance with the principles of organic farming and meet the requirements for organic certification of these products. Organic farming farmers feed their crops with natural fertilizers, use natural pest control methods, and avoid chemical pesticides and herbicides. In addition, organic farming farmers prefer organic seeds in seed selection. It is seen that organic agriculture farmers are not only engaged in organic product cultivation, but also in promoting organic agriculture, marketing and selling organic agricultural products. In addition, organic agriculture farmers cooperate with non-governmental organizations and local governments to promote organic agriculture and support sustainable rural development.
Actions Taken to Solve the Problems Faced by Existing Organic Farmers in Turkey
Organic farming farmers in Turkey face many challenges. These include issues such as high costs, low productivity, marketing and sales of organic products. Organic farming farmers produce solutions by taking a series of actions to overcome these challenges.
- Training and information sharing: Organic farming farmers participate in training and information sharing activities in order to learn and apply crop growing techniques in accordance with the principles of organic farming. In this way, they are more successful in growing products in accordance with the principles of organic agriculture and in meeting the requirements for organic certification.
- Acting together: Organic farming farmers come together to establish cooperatives and join forces to act together in marketing, sales and export. In this way, the marketing and sales of organic products are more successful and the prices of the products increase.
- Promotion of organic products: Organic farming farmers organize campaigns to promote the benefits of organic farming and the quality of organic products and work to make organic products preferred by consumers.
- Benefiting from support programs: Organic agriculture farmers receive financial support for the dissemination of organic agriculture and support of sustainable rural development by benefiting from the support programs offered by the government.
- Reducing certification costs: Organic farming farmers face difficulties due to the high costs of organic certification. Therefore, they request support from government and non-governmental organizations to reduce the costs of organic certification. All these actions contribute to solving the problems faced by organic farming farmers and to making organic farming more widespread.
National And International Legislation On Turkey's Climate Change Policy
The efforts to combat climate change, which started with the Human Environment Conference held in Stockholm in 1972, continue as a global struggle carried out under the umbrella of the United Nations after the Rio Conference held in 1992.
World Environment Summit: Stockholm “Human Environment Conference”; It has been decided to establish an international body at the United Nations (UN) that will deal with environmental problems on a global scale.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); It was established to guide decision makers in combating and adapting to climate change in the light of scientific outputs. The main objective of the National GHG Stocks Task Force is to develop a methodology for calculating and reporting national GHG emissions and costs.
Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC-UNFCCC); acknowledging that human-induced environmental pollution has dangerous effects on the climate, it aims to reduce the greenhouse gas rates in the atmosphere and to keep the negative effects of these gases at a certain level by minimizing them.
Annexes to the UNFCCC; The UNFCCC Convention is based on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and relative capabilities” for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, taking into account the development priorities and special conditions of the countries.
Kyoto Protocol; The aim is to stabilize the greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at levels that will not have a dangerous effect on the climate.
The purpose of the Paris Agreement; aims to limit the global temperature rise caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to less than 2 degrees Celsius in the long term compared to the pre-industrial era; draws attention to the importance of achieving 1.5 degrees Celsius in this regard.
European Green Consensus; It is the EU's new growth strategy that includes key objectives such as zeroing net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and ending the dependency of economic growth on resource use. It envisions increasing the efficient use of resources, restoring biodiversity and reducing pollution by moving to a clean, circular economy.
European Climate Law; It is the EU's new growth strategy that aims to make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent with net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In conclusion;
Organic farming plays an important role in tackling climate change. This farming method makes soils more fertile and allows the soil to retain water and nutrients better. This creates an agricultural system that is more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as increased drought and water shortages. In addition, organic agriculture provides environmental balance by preserving the diversity of plant and animal species, thanks to its practices for biodiversity protection.
As Orbiba Robotics, we also play an important role in this regard. We are developing a more efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly farming method by using artificial intelligence and robotic technologies in the agricultural sector. Along with the European Green Deal, biodiversity has been embraced as a crucial factor by our producers. Therefore, we aim to present the Orbiba Robotics biodiversity detection report.
CAO-Chief Agriculture Officer
BÜŞRA ÖZER
Resources
- https://acikders.ankara.edu.tr/
- https://dergipark.org.tr/
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- https://www.tarimorman.gov.tr/
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