Turkish Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy

Abstract

Although Turkey’s economic policies since the 1920s have put the main emphasis on industrial development, it has to be remembered that agriculture still plays a vital role in the Turkish economy, and is of some importance in the context of relations with the Community. The total area of the country is 77.9 million ha, of which 23 million ha, or 29.5 per cent, is counted as cultivated. Around 5.9 million ha, or some 25.5 per cent of the cultivated area is left fallow, but this still leaves Turkey with a very large agricultural area. Within the country, there is a wide variety of ecological conditions. As a result, Turkey is not just a major producer of Mediterranean crops (grapes, olives, tobacco, cotton and the like) but also of northern products, such as grain, orchard fruit, vegetables and meat. It is selfsufficient in most foodstuffs and normally has a substantial surplus of fruits, vegetables and industrial crops available for export.

This chapter is a revised version of the author’s paper, “Turkish Agriculture an the EEC”, published in Orient 26 (no 3, September 1985), pp. 360–375.