Healthy Soil Movement Launches

Healthy Soil Movement Launches Since 2008, Eti Burçak and WWF-Türkiye (World Wildlife Fund Turkey) have been collaborating to develop Turkey's agricultural sector and wheat farming, implementing highly important projects. Their joint work has now opened a new chapter. Within the scope of the "Healthy Soil Movement" project, aimed at contributing to the health of Turkey's agricultural soils, a report titled "The Past, Present and Future of Agricultural Soils in Turkey" was prepared with expert participation. The report addresses the problems facing soil, which is the foundation of agriculture, the condition of Turkey's soils, and agricultural methods that protect soil. According to the report, Turkey, which is exposed to erosion nearly twice the global average, has approximately 5 million hectares of land that is unsuitable for agriculture yet continues to suffer further damage due to incorrect agricultural practices. The report also conveys sustainable approaches regarding Turkey's agricultural and food production methods and what needs to be done to improve soil. The report titled "The Past, Present and Future of Agricultural Soils in Turkey," prepared as part of the "Healthy Soil Movement" project, and the applications implemented on a total of 50 decares of agricultural land at pilot farms in Eskişehir based on this report, were introduced at a press conference attended by Eti Gıda Executive Board Chairman Hakan Polatoğlu, Eti Gıda Marketing Group President Zeynep Dipçin Akdoğan and WWF-Türkiye (World Wildlife Fund Turkey) General Manager Aslı Pasinli. Eti Gıda Executive Board Chairman Hakan Polatoğlu emphasized that Eti Burçak, presented to the market in 1978 as Turkey's first fiber biscuit, has remained one of the most beloved brands for many years due not only to serious knowledge accumulation and high-level expertise, but also the high quality of wheat grown by farmers with their sweat and dedication. Hakan Polatoğlu continued his remarks as follows: "By focusing on the development and sustainability of agriculture, particularly wheat farming, and aiming to contribute to solving problems, this cooperation we have maintained with WWF-Türkiye since 2008 is of great importance to us. The global climate crisis stands before us in all its reality today. While fighting climate change for the future of our planet and humanity, we must simultaneously ensure food security with a sustainable approach. For this purpose, we have decided to concentrate our ongoing partnership with WWF-Türkiye specifically on 'soil,' an important resource in combating the climate crisis and ensuring food security." he said. WWF-Türkiye (World Wildlife Fund Turkey) General Manager Aslı Pasinli stated: "Today we gather together for our soil, the source of our food, which stands up to all increasingly external factors but is now tired and worn. Whether through natural causes or human intervention, we have nearly completely lost the topsoil that provides us with nutrients. As a result of incorrect practices, our soils are turning from living, active soil into dead and flying dust. The regenerative agriculture practices we have adopted as a foundation and work to promote prioritize protecting our soil. Through this, instead of soil lost to wind and rainfall, it is possible to regain living, fertile soil and make our soil health sustainable." she said. Pasinli, providing information about the Healthy Soil Movement Project they launched with Eti Burçak's support and emphasizing the importance of this work, said: "Within the scope of this project, we have taken action with a one-health approach for the well-being of our planet and the health of our soils, through the partnership of private sector, public sector and civil society. I hope all these efforts will shed light on our journey toward healthy food production in our living, resilient, fertile soils."

88 Percent of Our Agricultural Soils Are Unhealthy

In the report "The Past, Present and Future of Agricultural Soils in Turkey," to which 13 experts from academia, public and private sectors contributed, basic information about soil was provided, and the problems soil faces globally and in Turkey were addressed. According to the report, approximately 5 million hectares of land in Turkey are used for agricultural production despite being unsuitable for agriculture, resulting in erosion damage, while approximately 88 percent of soils in our country have organic matter content below 2 percent, which is classified as low or very low. The report states that 20 percent of irrigated agricultural areas globally and in Turkey are excessively salinized due to incorrect and excessive irrigation, and notes that Turkey's agricultural area, which was 41 million hectares in the early 2000s, has declined by approximately 8 percent according to 2019 figures to 38 million hectares. According to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics cited in the report, in 94 developing countries globally, 20 percent of the protein needs of 4.5 billion people are met by wheat products. In our country, this rate reaches 53 percent. The report notes that it is possible to protect our soil and restore it to vitality, and that climate change can be fought by binding carbon to soil, and that particularly protective practices such as conservation tillage and direct seeding used in wheat production can be rapidly promoted. The report states: "Soil is sustainable only if it is healthy and productive. For soils we have damaged for a very long time with incorrect agricultural methods to feed future generations as well, it is no longer sufficient to protect soil only physically. We need to improve it while protecting the life within the soil. Conservation agriculture increases the carbon storage capacity of soil; while improving soil, it also provides a tool for fighting the climate crisis, which will bring with it many problems related to food security."

The solutions proposed in the report are grouped under four main headings:

• Prevention of misuse of agricultural land,
• Cessation of agricultural practices causing damage to agricultural land,
• Promotion of practices and policies aimed at protecting agricultural soil,
• Widespread adoption of innovative practices that will improve damaged agricultural soil and increase soil vitality.

Within the framework of the Eti Burçak and WWF-Türkiye cooperation, a pilot application was implemented on a total of 50 decares in Belpınar and Yıldızören Villages in Çifteler District, Eskişehir, introducing farmers to conservation agriculture. In this direction, wheat was sown on stubble on previously harvested soil in one field. Instead of burning or burying the stubble in the soil, the plant cover was left in the field and at the beginning of the next production season, direct wheat seeding was performed using a Direct Seeding Machine into the stubble, rather than fully plowing the field. Extremely important and positive results were achieved with this method, which is aimed to be promoted among farmers. First, significant fuel savings were realized. While farmers using conventional tillage used 6 liters of diesel to grow one decare of wheat, in conservation agriculture this amount decreased to 0.9 liters. Fuel costs per decare dropped from TRY 402 to TRY 60.

Other major benefits of conservation agriculture are listed as follows:

• Improved water retention in soil: By maintaining high soil permeability, soil absorbs rainwater better. Since stubble covers the soil surface, soil moisture is retained. Additionally, soil is protected from extreme weather events.
• Prevention of erosion: Stubble roots holding soil reduce damage to the soil surface from rainfall and wind. It prevents water and wind erosion.
• Improvement of soil structure and carbon sequestration: Stubble decomposes over time and becomes fertilizer for the soil. Biological activity below soil increases and the rate of conversion of organic matter to inorganic matter slows. Thus, the amount of organic matter in soil and carbon sequestration increase over time. This increases soil fertility and provides an advantage for the newly planted crop.

Economic and environmental benefits: In direct seeding, fertilizer and chemical pesticide use decreases. Less tillage reduces labor requirements and fuel consumption. Since seeding is done in a single pass, time is gained for earlier seeding.