The damage caused by the earthquake in the agricultural sector amounted to 24.2 billion lira.

In the report prepared by the Presidency of Strategy and Budget after the Kahramanmaraş and Hatay earthquakes, suggestions were included as a road map for solving the problems of the agricultural sector, which, according to the first determinations, were affected by 24.2 billion lire. .

According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent from the “Report on the Kahramanmaraş and Hatay earthquakes” of the Presidency, the studies continue without stopping to ensure a sustainable production environment by bringing the agricultural production and livestock sectors to their pre-earthquake state. earthquake in a short time.

In this context, it is intended to rehabilitate or reconstruct the damaged agricultural infrastructure in the provinces affected by the earthquake, compensate the loss of livestock by replacing it, increase the efficiency of the public in agricultural marketing, encourage the employment of agricultural workers in order to reduce the negative impact of migration from the region on agricultural production and prevent farmers from abandoning production.

In the aquaculture sector, by increasing the participation received from agricultural support to increase aquaculture production in the long term, the growth of the sector and the creation of alternative job opportunities for the local population, increasing the allocation of areas for aquaculture use in dams to small -Large-scale enterprises within the scope of rehabilitation of the region, increasing employment with full capacity operation of aquaculture facilities, at the same time It is considered important to provide financial support for the establishment of a new facility.

It is underlined that the widespread use of earthquake-resistant wood in construction and the creation of model villages where wood is widely used within the framework of zero waste and zero emissions are important to contribute to the prevention of migration and the continuation of agriculture. production.

In the long term, it is important to prevent migration from the region by ensuring the continuity of irrigation services, which are important in terms of agricultural economy and employment, and by increasing agricultural support, ensuring the repair of facilities in the irrigation sector in the long-term

GREATER DAMAGE AT IRRIGATION

While the studies continue to determine the damage to the total animal existence in the livestock sector, it has been determined that in the current situation 8 thousand 241 bovines, 64 thousand 260 smaller bovines and 42 thousand birds have been destroyed. In addition, 533 thousand chicks died in Adıyaman and 168 thousand chicks in Malatya. In this context, it was estimated that breeders lost 602.5 million lire from animal deaths.

13 thousand 284 of 233 thousand 230 sheds and sheds in the earthquake zone were destroyed.

It was determined that 5,756 of approximately 1.6 million hives in the region were damaged. The cost of resupplying them was estimated at 8.6 million lira.

The total cost of damage to 12 private sector warehouses in Adana, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay was determined to be 221 million lira.

It was estimated that 101 tonnes of fish and 37.4 million juveniles died due to damage to some private sector inland aquaculture facilities in the earthquake zone, and the total cost was 63.2 million lira.

In the food sector, damage of approximately 50 million liras due to the fire in the machinery-equipment at the Hatay Food Control Laboratory, and approximately 1.3 million liras at the Malatya and Elazig sugar factories affiliated with Türkiye Şeker Fabrikaları A.Ş.

The total damage to the buildings and equipment of the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) is estimated to be approximately 3 billion lira. The estimated amount of damage for the irrigation sector, first calculated by DSI, reached 19.5 billion lira.

The total cost of damage detected at the 18 Turkish Grain Board (TMO) warehouses was estimated to be 81.6 million TL and the total cost of damage detected at the facilities of the General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises (TİGEM) was 134.1 million TL.

In this context, it was determined that the total damage in the agricultural sector was 24.2 billion lire according to the first determinations.

For the compensation of animals damaged by the earthquake, it is necessary to allocate 580.3 million lira to the agriculture support budget. An allocation of 1 billion lire is needed for the distribution of feed to animal breeders.

FIRST, THE NEED OF THE FEEDERS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED

According to the report, short-term policy recommendations include repairing damaged barns and pens, rebuilding destroyed ones, providing tents for animals that have shelter problems due to destroyed barns and pens, and the supply of fodder and concentrated feed, medicines and vaccines to animal breeders.

In addition, repairs and reconstruction of structures such as warehouses, processing facilities and silos, compensation for damage caused by the loss of animals, in order to ensure that breeders can buy animals again, providing seed and fertilizer support to farmers Producers to ensure spring plantings take place and take steps to employ temporary farm workers in the region are also within the scope of short-term policy recommendations.

First of all, it is recommended to determine the damage to agricultural machinery, especially tractors, and put them into operation, acting with the understanding of urban forestry, which is of great importance for urban ecology, and of the forest, which is of great importance for urban ecology, while redesigning the architecture of destroyed cities.

Structuring the debts of irrigation facilities in the region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to start compensating for such damages, and reassessing the use of groundwater in the region for irrigation are some of the short-term policy recommendations.

MEDIUM AND LONG TERM POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Among the policy recommendations in the medium term are increasing the number of temporary purchase centers by the TMO to make the product purchase processes more efficient, determining the land that will not be cultivated by migration and leasing it through the Ministry Agriculture and Forestry. .

Other medium-term recommendations are: “Develop a program that provides information flow to the coordinating institution before and during disasters by creating an inventory of resources from public institutions and organizations that can respond to disasters such as fires, earthquakes, floods, avalanches, increasing the number of air and ground vehicles used in the fight against forest fires and its response to disasters Allocation of resources to R&D activities to develop the fight capacity and determine and maintain the security of the storage facilities” .

Among the policies that are recommended to be implemented in the long term are summarized below:

– Implementation of support programs in the earthquake zone to avoid departures from the agricultural sector,

– Establishment of earthquake recording devices that record the seismic activity of dams during earthquakes, obtaining information based on observation in order to increase knowledge and experience about the behavior of dams in earthquakes,

– Installation of early warning systems on dams in the earthquake zone, including various types of sensors, including reservoir/outflow water level monitoring, flow indicators, and weather measurements. (AA)