Enviro News Asia, Banaz – Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı has announced that five additional organized agricultural zones will be brought into production this year, as the country continues to expand its strategic agricultural infrastructure across 42 provinces.
Speaking during a field visit to the Banaz District Greenhouse Organized Agricultural Zone (Greenhouse OAZ), Yumaklı said Turkey has achieved a respected position globally in both food supply security and agricultural product exports. He described agriculture as a strategic sector and said it would not be wrong to define it as a matter of national security.
“According to the 2025 results announced by the World Bank a few days ago, our country ranks first in Europe and seventh in the world with agricultural output of $83.2 billion. All of this is the result of investments made under the leadership of our President,” Yumaklı said.
The Minister said Turkey is implementing 61 organized agricultural zones across 42 provinces, of which 46 have achieved legal entity status, 20 have completed infrastructure investments, and 15 have begun production. Zones already in production have generated 10,000 jobs, 60,000 tonnes of crop output, and 160,000 head of livestock, with an annual contribution to the economy of 20 billion lira. Once all 46 legally established zones are fully operational, they are projected to produce around 1.1 million tonnes of crops and 600,000 head of livestock, targeting $1 billion in exports.
The Banaz Geothermal Greenhouse Organized Agricultural Zone will be developed with an investment of 12 billion lira across a total area of approximately 1,700 decares, including 1,300 decares of greenhouse space and 400 decares of agricultural industrial area. Geothermal water reaching 70 degrees Celsius at the site will enable year-round production of approximately 65,000 tonnes of tomato equivalent output.
“The economic contribution after operations begin will be around 5 billion lira per year. We anticipate 2,500 jobs here, with 75 percent expected to be filled by women. This will be an extremely important outcome both for the region and for our goal of increasing the participation of young people and women in agricultural production,” Yumaklı said.
He also noted that the Manisa Salihli Geothermal Organized Agricultural Zone is among those that have achieved legal entity status. A budget of 10 billion lira at current prices has been set aside for infrastructure construction across zones still in the investment phase. (*)
