Konya Plain Project (KOP) Regional Development Administration was established by the Decree Law No. 642 in 2011 to accelerate the development of the regions covered by the project through the implementation of research, planning, programming, project design, monitoring, evaluation, and coordination services required by investments in the KOP Region, which consists of the provinces of Aksaray, Karaman, Konya, and Niğde. While the initial mandate of the KOP Administration covered these four provinces, Nevşehir and Yozgat were included with the Council of Ministers’ Decree dated June 6, 2016 and numbered 2016/8870, followed by Kırıkkale and Kırşehir with the Council of Ministers’ Decree dated September 7, 2016 and numbered 2016/9140.

Agriculture

The KOP Region possesses approximately 3 million hectares of agricultural land, corresponding to 12.4% of Turkey’s total agricultural land. Considering the role of agriculture in ensuring the country’s food security, it is essential to introduce a new model that will enable transformation and restructuring in the agricultural sector of the Region to ensure sustainability. Within this scope:

• Land consolidation and irrigation projects should be implemented to improve agricultural infrastructure.

• Efficient use of existing water resources must be ensured, while opportunities for water transfer from outside the basin (the Kızılırmak and Göksu Rivers) should be explored and realized.

• Additional agricultural support programs prioritizing dry farming specific to the Region should be introduced.