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Province based areas of crops, vegetables and fruits (decare)
17 million Crop area Vegetable area Fruit area
Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the top sectors in Turkey. The climates of Turkey are suitable to grow a wide variety of crops, vegetables, and fruits. Much of the crops including wheat, barley, and rye are grown in the central plains (e.g. Konya).
Most vegetables and fruits are produced in the coastal cities of Turkey. One of the recently emerging agricultural spots in Turkey is the Harran basin in southeastern Anatolia where it has become possible to grow cotton and corn, in addition to wheat, barley, beans, and fruits. This especially takes effect when the Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP in Turkish initials) creates more favorable conditions for agriculture as it brings the water of the Euphrates to the arable lands of the plain.
Despite the prominence of the agricultural sector, the land sustainability for rain-fed agriculture is not high in Turkey. The yield per hectare is relatively low (for instance, wheat yield in Turkey is less than one third of what it is in Belgium). Given these factors and the climate change projections, it could be argued that agriculture will be negatively affected in Turkey.
The map shows that the hotspot cities for some of the top crops and fruits of Turkey overlap with the areas where the projections show decreases in rainfall. In conclusion, it could be stated that climate change will increasingly threaten the food security of Turkey in the 21st century.
