Soil in Turkey

The main types of soil in Turkey are calcisols, cambisols and leptosols, and fluvisols.^[1]

Soil profile with oxidation in Manisa Province, Turkey

By the mid-20th century erosion had reduced the amount of arable land,^[2] but the government is combating desertification and erosion in various ways.^[3] However, soil erosion is forecast to increase with climate change, with about 30% occurring on agricultural land.^[4] Degraded soil could be improved.^[5]: 11Soil surveys have been done at least since the 1950s,^[6][7] and the Ministry of Agriculture has published soil maps.^{[8][9][10][11]}

The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion is a non-governmental organization as is the Soil Science Society of Turkey.^[12] A 2016 study said soil had been degraded and that there was great potential to sequester carbon.^[13] There is a public soil database.^{[14][Note 1]} Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils is important, and in 2017 total SOC down to 0.7 m was estimated at 9.23 Pg.^[15] Another estimate is slightly under 3000 tonnes/km².^[16] Accumulation of soil organic matter depends partly on cultivation but can be hindered by aridity.^[17]

Further reading

• Selim Kapur, Erhan Akça and Hikmet Günal, ed. (2018). The Soils of Turkey. Springer Science+Business Media.

Notes

1. As of 2025 the weblink does not work – "Toprak Portal". portal.cem.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2025-01-04.