MİKDAT KADIOĞLU: AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SHOULD BE RESCHEDULED ACCORDING TO WATER FOOTPRINT OF PRODUCTS

We have to reschedule agriculture according to the water footprint of the products...

Explaining the effects of climate change on agriculture. Dr. Mikdat Kadıoğlu said that agriculture should be strategically rescheduled according to the water footprints of the products.

The 3rd Food and Nutrition Biennial, held in İstanbul, where the future of Food and Nutrition was laid on the table with the theme "Before the Future Comes."

Effects of climate change on agriculture...

İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) Lecturer Dr. Mikdat Kadıoğlu made a presentation on “The Effects of Climate Change on Turkish Agriculture” in the “Looking Ahead” session of the 3rd Food and Nutrition Biennial organized by the Food Enlightening Platform with the theme "Before the Future Comes."

Touching on the coronavirus epidemic that has taken the world by storm, Kadıoğlu stated, “It was expected that there would be diseases that passed from animals to humans for 30 years. In particular, it was said that the number of tropical diseases specialists of the Ministry of Health should be increased. It is necessary to raise people according to him by predicting the expected risks."

“The biggest factor of climate change is human.”

Underlining that agriculture is affected by climate change both directly and indirectly (floods, disasters, etc.), Kadıoğlu reminded that when climate change is mentioned, the factors that make up the climate come to mind:

“The biggest factor of climate change is human and human behaviour. First, this has to be accepted. In this context, the biggest factor is industry. The release of carbon, which is trapped under the ground as oil and coal for millions of years, is a major problem. Some places in Turkey until 2100 is expected to increase up to 7 °C. Climate change is also happening in the past of the world. However, this is happening 1000 times faster than before, and ecology cannot keep up."

"Nature does not need human beings, but humanity needs nature."

"Temperature increases of only 1-2 ° C can severely limit the production of many agricultural products. For this reason, we should not underestimate climate change. One of the biggest problems is that the precipitation decreases with the increase in temperature. If we come to the effects of climate change on agriculture; no water, no grass, no grass, no meat. Where will the livestock be, where will the water be, they need to be known. Sea fishing is the lowest source of protein in the water footprint. But aquaculture is not like that," Kadıoğlu noted.

"Climate Change projections do not make much sense to the farmer. Farmers should be told about the water balance of the soil, how many months, from which month it will be necessary to water. The way precipitation occurs is also changing. Regular rains are replaced by heavy weather events such as hail, lightning and storm," Kadıoğlu added.

“Agricultural production should be re-planned with water footprints of products.”

"It is necessary to evaluate the water footprints of agricultural products and to plan the production strategically again. It can be considered that the products with high water footprint will be grown in the wetlands of the world. We need to start the rain harvest mobilization. This is a very important issue for Turkey. It requires a great mobilization. It is necessary to harvest rain and reduce water loss in agriculture, cities and many other areas," he concluded...