UHK: We will compensate losses due to drought

SAFAKNA TURKEY – Recalling that seasonal drought across the country is more severe in some regions, Taşpinar said: “There are crops grown on the land such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. In the next period, spring crops will be planted. The times when the grains need water are the time of the first shoots. Thanks to the rains during the first shoots, most of the sown grain was able to sprout easily.” He said.

“The number of plantings in wetlands increased by 20 percent”

Stating that last year’s wheat harvest was around 20 million tons, Taşpinar said:

“Eighty percent of the 7 million hectares of wheat sown in Turkey are under dry conditions, and 20 percent under irrigated conditions. In other words, 1.4 million hectares of irrigated and 5.6 million hectares of barren land were cultivated. This year, wheat has been favored over certain products such as corn and sunflowers due to fears of drought on irrigated land and low price increases for competing products.

A small amount of cultivated area has increased in barren areas. For this reason, the area under wheat increased slightly, reaching about 7.5 million hectares. This year, the number of plantations in wetlands has increased by 20 percent. So, despite a small crop loss due to drought, there will be some growth due to crops planted in wetlands. We hope that with an increase in sown areas, we will be able to catch up with last year’s harvest.”

Taşpinar stated that a meteorological drought was prevailing throughout the country and said:

“Meteorological drought has reached the level of hydrological drought. There has been a significant withdrawal of our groundwater in lakes and ponds. Our snow and torrential rains were not enough. On the other hand, the fact that rainfall occurred during the periods when grain needed water the most, to a large extent eliminated the lack of grain. If the next April-May rains continue regularly, there may not be an extreme drought in grain.

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