Effects of the global climate crisis on the agricultural sector and solution suggestions

One of the biggest problem of the century we are in is the climate crisis. Especially after the industrial revolution, increasing industrial activities to meet human needs have brought about various environmental problems and led to the acceleration of climate change. Changes in climate conditions also affect different sectors. Nowadays, the prominence of these effects has increased due to human-related reasons. Agriculture is one of the sectors where the most intense effects of climate changes are seen. In this context, in the study, the impact of the climate crisis on the agricultural sector in Turkey was tested using the ARDL method with data for the period 1990-2020. In the study, the share of agricultural production in gross domestic product (GDP) was taken as the dependent variable, and the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita and earth heat index data were taken as the independent variables. The data used in the study were obtained from the World Bank database. According to the empirical findings of the study, it was determined that there is a negative and significant relationship between the variables representing the climate crisis and the agricultural sector in the long term. This result is compatible with our theoretical expectation. The error correction term of the model works. In each period, 0.32 of the deviations are eliminated. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture to ensure food security under changing climate conditions. In addition, the importance of increasing efforts to reduce the dependence of agriculture on climatic conditions is mentioned and solution suggestions are included. Keywords: Climate, Agriculture, Food, Agriculture 4.0, Turkey