Will agriculture beat the odds against Covid-19? The Covid-19 outbreak and its effect on agricultural supply in Turkey

ABSTRACT

The new coronavirus (Covid-19), which spread almost the entire world, adversely affected many sectors, both internationally and locally. Households' panic purchase has rocketed the demand for some food items in the early days. Besides, food safety concerns have increased. This research aimed to uncover how the public perceived the impact of Covid-19 on the agriculture and food sector. The online survey was conducted, and the data from 428 participants were analysed using the SPSS (v.23) program. The third of respondents (30.8%) believed the outbreak would last between six months to one year, during which time food shortages will occur (32.5%). While 27.4% of the respondents reported that they stockpiled food, 44.8% reported that if the outbreak continued, they would stock up on food. Participants were concerned that if planting cannot be done, food shortages will occur (74.6%), basic foodstuffs cannot be produced (67.8%), food imports (69.4%) and exports (74.6%) will be adversely affected by the outbreak. The research found that if farming disturbed, food prices would increase (82.3%) and the government should include agriculture-supporting measures (85%) in its economic measures.