Possible impacts of Turkey?s participation process to the EU on the agricultural policies of Turkey and the strategic importance of organic agriculture

During the reform process of agricultural sector; finding policies as appropriate alternatives, possess great importance for the preservation of the rural, social and economic harmony of a country. Within this concept, organic agriculture preserves very important opportunities for Turkey, where the re-organization in agriculture is expected to be quite controversial and disputable. Factors like the availability of natural resources, seasonal advantages, labor-intensive production process, high value added, export potentials etc. make organic agriculture quite attractive and strategically important for Turkey. It is quite obvious that Turkey does not reflect its potential, when we look at the production level and share of exports in organic products, despite all the above mentioned factors for the successful development of the sector.In this study; experiences of successful countries and the necessary steps that Turkey has to take in the areas of financial support, internal market, research and development etc. are taken into consideration.By developing a strategic action plan in this sector, these steps should be carefully established and implemented as soon as possible in order to take advantage of the international markets