Turkish farmers worry about crop loss, sinkholes amid drought

In Turkey’s Konya province, the heart of the country's agriculture sector, extreme drought conditions over the past two years are taking a heavy toll on farmers and the land.

Geology professor Fetullah Arik and geologist Arif Delikana inspect a large sinkhole in a field, in Karapınar, Turkey, June 03, 2021.

Konya province produces more than 2.5 million tons of grain every year, but the lack of rainfall in the past six months has dramatically reduced grain harvests and is raising concerns over future crops.

Wheat survives in a drought-stricken field on June 02, 2021.

According to Turkey's Statistical Institute (TurkStat), grain production in Turkey is predicted to drop 5.5% from last year.

A groundwater well is attached at a farm on June 02, 2021.

For farmers, the lack of rain gives them little option but to tap into the groundwater supplies to sustain their crops, forcing some to install illegal ground wells.

An irrigation hose snakes a cornfield on June 05, 2021.

However, reliance on groundwater has seen underground water levels drop by more than two meters in the past five years, contributing to an increase in massive sinkholes across the province, worrying farmers as they spread closer to residential areas.

A large sinkhole consumes a road in the village of Ekmekci on June 03, 2021.

Konya has the second largest number of sinkholes in the world behind Florida.

More than 600 sinkholes dot the landscape and drought conditions are making the situation worse.

Birds fly inside a large sinkhole on June 03, 2021.

According to geology professor Fetullah Arik, who heads the Sinkhole Application and Research Centre at Konya Technical University, the number of sinkholes has doubled since last year’s count.

A large sinkhole engulfs a road in the village of Ekmekci on June 03, 2021.

A shepherd leads his flock of sheep across drought-stricken grasslands on June 04, 2021.

Geologist Arif Delikana (L) and geology professor Fetullah Arik take measurements and inspect a sinkhole on June 03, 2021.

A shepherd leads his flock of sheep across drought-stricken grasslands on June 04, 2021.

A seasonal worker installs irrigation pipes in a field on June 02, 2021.

Farmers Süleyman Kalkan (L) and Niyazi Ibrahimi feed their sheep at the families' farm on June 05, 2021.

A sign shows Meke Lake when it was full of water. The lake completely dried out in 2020 after years of receding water levels, on June 04, 2021.

Farmers Kalkan and Ibrahimi feed their sheep on June 05, 2021.

Farmers Hayri Kalkan (L) and Niyazi Ibrahimi add fertiziler to irrigation groundwater at their farm June 05, 2021.

Salt cakes the dried Meke Lake, June 04, 2021.

Sinkholes surround a small village in Karapınar on June 03, 2021.

Salt crusts the empty beds of the dried Meke lake, June 04, 2021.

A shepherd leads his flock of sheep across drought stricken grasslands on June 04, 2021.

Geologist Arif Delikana (L) and geology professor Fetullah Arik (R) take measurements and inspect a sinkhole on June 03, 2021.

Sheep feed in a failed crop field on June 02, 2021.

A seasonal worker tends to a sugar beet field on June 04, 2021.