In Konya, the base of agriculture, the farmer shouted from the field: We are suffering losses, we will sink.

The reactions to the purchase prices for corn of 6 thousand lire per ton announced by TMO do not cease.

Konya Future Party MP Hasan Ekici met with farmers from the Aybahçe district of Konya’s Meram district, known as a grain warehouse, and asked them how they found the purchase price for maize announced by the TMO.

Farmers reacted to the situation by stating that the announced figure was very low compared to the costs.

‘We are going to lose, we are going to sink’

One farmer, who called the figure announced by TMO “amusing”, claimed that they had suffered losses and were on the verge of bankruptcy.

The farmer said that they could not give their wheat to TMO and said:

“Every day there is an increase in the prices of diesel, fertilizers and medicines. The advertised price is very low compared to the costs. It is a curious figure if you compare diesel with current fertilizers. If they increase by 100 percent, unless they increase by 70 percent, we are satisfied with that. It is also doubtful that we will deliver it to TMO with the announced figures. He will say: ‘There is a line, there is a broken one, there is dust’, and he will return it. We also couldn’t give the wheat to TMO.

They threw us into the arms of the merchants. The farmer’s produce has not been paid for for 2 years. Big problem. In this case, we are losing money, we will go bankrupt. God bless our end. We will be dependent on the foreigner. They saw it in the pandemic. We have money, we could not buy products from abroad. We are reaching that position.

They will not offend the producer and then try to buy it from outside. Fiasco, God bless our end. I am still someone who voted for the AK Party. Once again, I’m behind you, I still have hope. Hopefully it will be solved. But it’s not good, it’s a problem right now.”

‘THE FARMER’S HOPE IS OVER’

Another farmer, who claimed that his products were not making a profit while his costs were rising, said:

“The farmer does not lose hope easily, but in this image, there is no hope. After 1-2 years, the planting is finished, not finished, but the water of our Konya is also a problem. All of our costs are increasing. Let’s fix our product according to them.

Now you go to the supermarket, even a piece of gum that you bought for the child now costs 1 or 2 liras. We currently sell a kilogram of wheat for a bar of chocolate. Balance it. Nobody should raise anything. Are we in such a quagmire that everyone is making a raise for everything?

‘WE WERE EXPECTING AT LEAST 8 THOUSAND LIRA’

Another farmer, who said he expects the purchase price of corn to be at least 8,000 lira, said: “Currently the costs are high. Based on the increase in diesel and fertilizers, we expected corn to cost at least 8,000 lira. Also, right now we have a water problem. The low tonnage of the product is always due to water. We could not water, the yield decreased. In addition, the price of 6 lire was announced, which is a very low figure.

Konya Future Party MP Hasan Ekici made a statement after his meetings with farmers, stating that the announced figure would hurt farmers.

Ekici, who asked the authorities to increase the purchase price of corn to at least 8,000-9,000 lira, made the following statements:

“This figure is not a figure that will cover the cost of production of the corn producer. Our farmers say that at this rate they will go bankrupt. Because our farmers sow with serious costs and there is a serious decrease in the savings that they allocate to production. Without production, Turkey’s food security, its future and ours will not be secure.

When giving a price to the farmer’s product, one should not look at it with the logic of the market. Because if the farmer cannot produce, our survival is in danger and that is the real danger of survival. Therefore, we return to notify the authorities with the information we receive from our farmers. We affirm that TMO’s announced base price of 6,000 lira should be immediately reviewed and increased to a minimum of 8,000-9,000 lira.