Evaluation of public structuring and services in Turkish agriculture

This study is conducted to evaluate public structuring in Turkish agriculture and services offered through it. In particular, it reviews legally and institutionally The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, its affiliations and related branches and other organizations providing services to agriculture and critically discusses services offered through them, and policies applied, by taking into consideration the performance reports issued by the relevant organizations. Additionally, based on a literature review, it also discusses problems encountered in practice and tries to develop some suggestions to solve those problems in the light of OECD data on some major products such as wheat, cotton, corn, meat and milk. The studies conducted during last decade aimed at the development of agriculture, enhancing its competitiveness, improving income level of the producers, protecting natural assets and using natural resources on a sustainable basis. As a result of the study, it is concluded that there are important problems in terms of continuity, consistency and coordination in the public structure in agriculture and the services and policies offered through it. Those problems, caused by the policies implemented for the functioning of agriculture, legal and organizational requirements and mostly structural changes made in line with political preferences, have not been fully solved yet.