Potato crops affected by earthquake
Potato crops affected by earthquake
Potato cultivator farmers in Van area have suffered a financial damage of millions TL this year because of the early coming winter in the district of Ahlat and the town of Purxus (Ovakýþla), two major earthquakes and frost in the region.
Farmers who make a living from potato cultivation have gone through hard times since the 7.2 and 5.6 magnitude earthquakes in Van and Erciþ last October. As the potatoes cultivated by farmers have remained unsolved because of the evacuation of primary potato consumer Van city, the products are sold as animal feeding stuff, a ton priced at only 150 TL.
Complaining about being unable to make sale because of the evacuation of the city, farmers say that 150 thousand tons of potatoes have remained unsold this year when the winter season has also begun early this year.
Mehmet Þirin Köçer, who makes a living by cultivating beets and potatoes in the town of Purxus, tells that hundreds of farmers and their families have been suffering from the current poor conditions in their town. Köçer, remarking that farming activities in the town are generally sustained by means of loans of money, points out that many farmers have now fallen into the hands of pawnbrokers. Köçer said the followings;
“This year we couldn’t put our products on the market as we have been selling the majority of them to Van in the previous years. I therefore can’t make a living for my family now. With a loan of 100 thousand TL I borrowed from the cooperative and pawnbrokers, I cultivated 120 decares this season however a great part of the products have been left unharvested this year as the winter came much earlier than we had expected. I have harvested hundreds of tons of products this year but I can’t put them on the market. We therefore have to sell the majority of these products as animal feeding stuff to meet the essential needs of our families. While we cannot afford to pay the loans we have taken, our debts are multiplying each month to an extend we cannot overcome. All families here are now thinking over ways to pay their debts.”
Farmers who make a living from potato cultivation have gone through hard times since the 7.2 and 5.6 magnitude earthquakes in Van and Erciþ last October. As the potatoes cultivated by farmers have remained unsolved because of the evacuation of primary potato consumer Van city, the products are sold as animal feeding stuff, a ton priced at only 150 TL.
Complaining about being unable to make sale because of the evacuation of the city, farmers say that 150 thousand tons of potatoes have remained unsold this year when the winter season has also begun early this year.
Mehmet Þirin Köçer, who makes a living by cultivating beets and potatoes in the town of Purxus, tells that hundreds of farmers and their families have been suffering from the current poor conditions in their town. Köçer, remarking that farming activities in the town are generally sustained by means of loans of money, points out that many farmers have now fallen into the hands of pawnbrokers. Köçer said the followings;
“This year we couldn’t put our products on the market as we have been selling the majority of them to Van in the previous years. I therefore can’t make a living for my family now. With a loan of 100 thousand TL I borrowed from the cooperative and pawnbrokers, I cultivated 120 decares this season however a great part of the products have been left unharvested this year as the winter came much earlier than we had expected. I have harvested hundreds of tons of products this year but I can’t put them on the market. We therefore have to sell the majority of these products as animal feeding stuff to meet the essential needs of our families. While we cannot afford to pay the loans we have taken, our debts are multiplying each month to an extend we cannot overcome. All families here are now thinking over ways to pay their debts.”
