BÜLENT GÜLÇUBUK: TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE WILL GAIN MUCH MORE IMPORTANCE

Professor Bülent Gülçubuk, Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture at Ankara University, said that traditional agriculture, local products, local seeds, geographically signed products and strategic products will come to the fore in the future rather than industrial agriculture...

Long term planning required...

"No fields should be left empty and the state should support it," said Dr. Bülent Gülçubuk, "Countries will make 'self-sufficiency plans in agriculture' along with the pandemic of Covit-19 from now on."


Pointing out that Turkey should develop strategies in terms of a 20-year perspective in agriculture, Gülçubuk stated, "Strategies based on being self-supporting from food and agricultural point of view will come to the fore. There is no concept of unmanned agriculture. It may be in industrial agriculture, but in epidemics such as coronavirus it does not mean anything. We should have long-term plans in strategic products that we are self-sufficient, in which we will not be affected in any way when there is an epidemic or other event. Self-sufficiency in wheat, sugar and proteins. Countries will take every precaution to become self-sufficient firstly. Industry, which is among its strategic scales, will have far more importance in tourism, information sector, agriculture, food and water. ”

Traditional agriculture to gain value...

Underlining that traditional agriculture, local products, local seeds, geographically signed products will gain more value and will come to the fore after coronavirus, rather than industrial agriculture, Gülçubuk explained, "The spread of these viruses will accelerate with industrial agriculture. Now countries will return to their core. All agricultural lands in Turkey must somehow be planted. No field should be empty and the state should support it."

Breakaway from agriculture must be prevented...

Emphasizing that Turkey should take all measures so as to prevent breakaways from agricultural activities, Gülçubuk added, "Currently the average age of farmers is 55. Young people are not satisfied with living in rural areas. We need policies to integrate agriculture and rural development. When we have achieved this, we may have become self-sufficient. Agriculture without rural development is out of question in countries like Turkey."

Basin based model important...

Gülçubuk also noted, “I hope we will not have a time when people cannot buy food with money. All countries are moving to a closed economy. They close the borders. Each country will use its own internal dynamics. After the coronavirus epidemic, we will discuss that perhaps every province should be self-sufficient. The basin-based production model should be implemented more."

Food safety will stand out...

Describing how Turkey would put forward its agricultural plans with different strategies in the wake of the outbreak, Gülçubuk concluded, "Safety gains more importance rather than monetary values of agricultural exports. Questions like, 'How reliable is the product I bought, how healthy?' will be asked anymore."