ORGANIC CROP PRODUCTION IN THE GAP REGION
Organic agriculture is an alternative production method that aims to increase the quality of the product rather than the quantity in production, does not use synthetic chemical inputs, is environmentally and human health friendly, and has controlled and certified stages from production to consumption. Today, with the increasing awareness of the environment and the interest in consuming healthy food, there is a significant increase in interest in organic agricultural products. The Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Region includes the provinces of Adıyaman, Batman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, and Şırnak. The region has significant potential for organic agriculture due to both its ecological structure, the scarcity of synthetic chemical inputs used in cultural practices, and its richness in local varieties. The total plant production area in the region is 3,212,086 ha, with 78.8% of this area being arable land, 13.2% orchards, 5.9% fallow land, and 2.1% vegetable fields. When the organic agricultural products that can be produced in the GAP Region are examined, it is seen that they consist of fruit types (fig, grape, plum, olive, pomegranate, mulberry, pistachio, almond), vegetable types (melon, watermelon, squash, tomato, pepper, eggplant), medicinal and aromatic plants (anise, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, thyme, mint, saffron), industrial plants (corn, soy, cotton), and cereal and leguminous plants (barley, wheat, lentil, chickpea). When the 2023 organic plant production data of our country are examined, the number of farmers is determined to be 34,358, the production area is 190,825.85 ha, the area collected from nature is 30,538.07 ha, the fallow land area is 3,549.19 ha, the total area is 224.913.11 ha, and the production quantity is 1,028,888.22 tons. With this announcement, it is aimed to present the current situation, problems, and suggestions for the improvement of organic plant production in the GAP region
