Is a founding member of the

Agricultural sector[edit]

The Atatürk Dam is the largest of the 22 dams in the Southeastern Anatolia Project. The program includes 22 dams, 19 hydraulic power plants, and the irrigation of 1.82 million hectares of land. The total cost of the project is estimated at $32 billion.
These paragraphs are an excerpt from Agriculture in Turkey.[edit]
Agriculture is an important sector of Turkey's economy, and the country is one of the world's top ten agricultural producers.^[84] Wheat, sugar beet, milk, poultry, cotton, vegetables and fruit are major crops;^[85] and Turkey is the world's largest grower of hazelnuts, apricots,^[85] and oregano.
Half of Turkey's land is agricultural,^[85] and farming employed 16% of the workforce in 2022,^[86] and provided 10% of exports, and 7% of GDP in 2020.^[87] There are just under half a million farmers as of 2022.^[88][89]
Despite being a major food producer, Turkey is a net wheat importer, much from Russia and Ukraine.^[90] Turkey is the EU's fourth largest non-EU vegetable supplier and the seventh largest fruit supplier. The European Commission had already started the formal process for extending the Customs Union Agreement to agricultural products,^[91][92] before European Union–Turkey relations deteriorated and efforts to extend and modernize the Customs Union Agreement came to a halt in 2018.^[93][94]
Turkish agriculture emits greenhouse gases. According to the World Bank, the sector should adapt more to climate change in Turkey and make technical improvements.^[88] 14% of food was lost during agricultural processing in 2016, and 23% was trashed by consumers before eating and 5% as leftovers.^[95]
It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Almost all the seeds used in Turkey are produced domestically.^[96]