A 16-item action plan for the agricultural sector for 2020 has been announced.

The results of the 3rd Agriculture and Forestry Council, held last November at ATO Congresium, were shared by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli. Following these announcements, the Agriculture and Forestry Council Action Plan was presented to the public.

Özer Matlı, Chairman of the Bursa Commodity Exchange and Board Member of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), stated that the Agriculture and Forestry Council Action Plan covers eight main areas shaping the future of agriculture, including “agricultural production and supply security, food safety, rural development and marketing, fisheries and aquaculture, soil and water resources, biological diversity, climate change, forestry and institutional capacity”, and added:
“In the 3rd Agriculture and Forestry Council, 60 actions were identified and later consolidated into 38 main topics through meticulous work by our Ministry. The total of 333 sub-actions under these topics is planned to be implemented gradually. With this five-year action plan, it is expected that the roadmap for Türkiye’s agriculture for the next 25 years will be shaped.
Especially the correct steps to be taken in areas such as branding agricultural products, domestic and national seed production, licensed warehousing, sustainability of family farms, and the national water plan will elevate our country’s agriculture to a much stronger position compared to today.”

The 16 action items announced by the Agriculture and Forestry Council to be implemented in 2020 are as follows:

• Establishing a digital production chain from seed to table, 
• Expanding the contract-based production model, 
• Launching the “Protect Your Food” awareness campaign, 
• Reducing food loss and waste, 
• Combating food adulteration and imitation, preventing misinformation, 
• Creating a Türkiye brand in the food sector, 
• Supporting branding in agricultural and forestry products, 
• Protecting forest assets and strengthening wildfire response, 
• Promoting forests and forest products, 
• Enhancing early response capacity to forest fires, 
• Establishing breeding heifer production centers, 
• Supporting international projects, 
• Utilizing international projects and improving agricultural trade, 
• Encouraging agricultural production activities abroad, 
• Strengthening cooperation between the public sector, private sector, and universities, 
• More effective use of meteorological data, 
• Protecting water resources, improving water use, and implementing the National Water Plan, 
• Increasing the production of industrial fiber plants, 
• Redefining rural and urban status of neighborhoods in metropolitan municipalities.