Optimization of fertile land usage and agricultural production of Turkey

Turkey has a large amount of land which is suitable for agriculture. On the other hand, agricultural activities gradually decrease every year. Moreover, the fertile lands are not used effectively. As a result, production of agricultural goods does not satisfy the domestic demand. Thus, Turkey is obliged to import lots of agricultural goods in the recent decade. Turkey has to develop the agricultural potential and productivity and demand - supply stability as soon as possible. For this purpose, an optimization model has been developed to optimize the fertile land usage and agricultural production to satisfy the increasing agricultural demand of Turkey.Residential settlements on fertile lands are another problem about the agricultural land usage of Turkey. The fertile lands are allowed for the construction of residential settlements and this causes the decrease of the fertile land area beside a lot of negative effects to the national economy and nature. This study aims to find solutions to these problems with the help of an optimization model. Specifically, which parts of land has to be farmed, which products has to be cultivated, how much has to be cultivated, how much area has to be used for the cultivation of a specific product. Additionally, the model will yield the effect of loss of fertile land due to residential settlements on fertile lands.