TURKEY: 2015/16 Cotton Production Remains at Near Record Levels

USDA forecasts Turkey’s market year 2015/16MY2015/16 cotton crop at 2.8 million bales. Production is down 400,000 bales from last year but still above the 5-year average. Harvested area is estimated at 380,000 hectares, 70,000 hectares below last year. Yield is estimated at 1604 kilograms per hectare, a 0.9 percent decrease from last year’s record yield of 1620 kilograms per hectare.

Continuing low world cotton prices and disappointing cotton returns caused farmers to plant wheat in place of cotton where conditions permitted. The USDA Agricultural Affairs Office in Istanbul reported that the Turkish Government has been reticent in providing cotton production support. Cotton in Turkey is planted between mid-March and mid-May, and harvested from mid-August through November, and is grown in three main areas: the Aegean region, the Çukurova region, and the Southeastern Anatolia region. During the 2014/15 winter months, the cotton regions received favorable precipitation which contributed to above average water reserves for irrigation. Yields have been improving in recent years because of modern equipment and irrigation across larger fields thus achieving economies of scale (Fig. 1). In addition, the increased use of certified seed, estimated to be about 95 percent of total seeds used, has also made a strong contribution to improvements in yield.

High production costs and competition from other crops are having an adverse effect on cotton production. Over the last 30 years, the Turkish Government has spent more than $25 billion on a massive irrigation and agricultural extension project in Southeast Anatolia known as the Guneydogu Anadolu Projesi (GAP Project). When finished, some 1.5 million hectares will be irrigated with a total of 22 dams constructed. Currently, about 74 percent of the hydroelectric projects and 22 percent of the irrigation projects are completed. The prevailing view is that increased cotton production in Turkey is dependent on the progress of the GAP Project. The Harran Plain is in the heart of the cotton growing area in the GAP region (didn’t mention this as a main cotton growing area, above). Archived satellite imagery over the Plain shows nearly 140,000 hectares of fertile land has benefited from the added irrigation (Fig. 2).(ibid) In 2008, the Turkish government allocated $12 billion over 5 years to ramp up the GAP Project and finish the construction of dams, irrigation canals and other infrastructure in the Southeast Anatolian region. This effort has brought into production another 780,000 hectares of irrigated land by MY2016/17. Unfortunately, conflict along the Syrian border has delayed the implementation of the project.

This report is published by the Office of Global Analysis (OGA), International Production Assessment Division (IPAD). Current USDA area and production estimates for grains and other agricultural commodities are available at PSD Online.
For more information contact William Baker | william.baker@fas.usda.gov | (202) 260-8109
USDA-FAS, Office of Global Analysis.

Current USDA area and production estimates for grains and other agricultural commodities are available on IPAD's Agricultural Production page or at PSD Online.

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