Agriculture

Ongoing debris removal work in 11 earthquake-affected provinces has put food safety on the agenda, as experts warn that dumping building rubble on or near farmlands can cause unprecedented harm to not only food crops but also the environment.

A man who quit his job and devoted himself to injured pack animals since 2018 has established Türkiye's first volunteer animal operating room.

After quitting his job in the advertising sector in 2018, Okan Oflaz began to take care of disabled and injured pack animals.

The government wants to see more young people at every stage of agricultural production, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişçi has said.

"I consider food safety as the first priority of the 'Turkish Century' in agriculture," Kirişçi said at a meeting of the Agriculture-Forestry Workers Union in Ankara.

Watching out for rain and snowfall for days, farmers, especially those in central provinces, are worried as some crops such as corn and potatoes cannot be planted if the drought continues.

The drought, which is showing its impact more and more throughout the country, has reached alarming proportions in terms of agricultural production.

While the disruption in grain shipments to world markets due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis led to a worldwide threat of famine, Türkiye's diplomatic efforts helped prevent the problem, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 6.

A new Slovenian documentary gives fresh insight into a rescue mission that brought the white Lipizzan horses back to the Lipica stud farm after they were taken by the Germans during the Second World War. The same mission also inspired Walt Disney in the past.

Massive economic losses brought on by extreme heat induced by human-driven climate change are an issue now, not only in the distant future.

Following Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's statements on Amanos Mountains in Türkiye's south that it has been cleared of terrorists, the region is expected to be opened to ecotourism, according to the Regional Directorate of Forestry.

The Amanos Mountains, in which the security forces have actively struggled against the PKK since 1992, has been completely cleared of the terrorism.

The Turkish Grain Board (TMO) bought a record amount of over 5 million tons of wheat and over 1 million tons of barley this year, after the global food security rush due to both the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war.

New Zealand's government yesterday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.