Öz
It is important to use arable agricultural lands effectively for the supply of food needed according to the growth rate of the world population. It is aimed to implement the most efficient use of agricultural land through planning, strategy development and reform policies by preserving the soil within the scope of sustainable land management. In the current situation, arable agricultural lands remain idle and damage the country's economy due to reasons such as the development of industry, migration from rural to urban areas, development of communication and transportation technologies, division of cadastral parcels.
In this study, it is planned to determine the agricultural lands that can be used or can be used for agricultural production, which are not cultivated, cultivated and physically left empty by their owners due to legal, social, economic, technical and environmental reasons and to investigate the contribution and reasons of their acquisition in agricultural activity. Mersin province Tarsus District Egemen, Baharlı and Kulak neighborhoods were selected as the study area, and the Income Method, one of the traditional valuation methods, was used. It has been observed that the idle agricultural lands are approximately 2750 decares and an economic loss of 6.9 million Turkish Liras (₺) was experienced only for 2020. As a result, the solution suggestions for not leaving the agricultural land empty and for the return to economic income are evaluated separately as public and private ownership lands.