Farmers’ behaviors regarding the decrease in the area of cotton

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to determine the economical and social reasons of farmers' behaviors concerning the decrease in the area of cotton plantations in Izmir, Turkey. To do so, 84 cotton growers were interviewed in the province of Izmir. According to the results of the study, the cost variable in the cotton farms investigated was calculated as: €1,446.6 ha -1 ; gross margin, €524.4 ha -1 , and the yield, 4,018 kg ha -1 . In the studied area, 44% decrease in the area of cotton plantations was observed in 2006 compared to the year 2000. According to the farmers, some of the most important reasons for the decrease in the area of cotton plantations are the decrease (55%) in the producer prices and the increase in the costs (36%) of growing cotton. The possibility of giving up/not giving up cotton production is affected negatively by the social variable of the education level of the farmer, but the cotton growing experience of the farmer, and the farmer's family size, affect the possibility positively. As for the structural /economical variables, farm size negatively affects the possibility but satisfaction from premiums and gross margin have positive effects. Farmers also demand a 90% increase in the premiums and state that they will give up growing cotton unless there are enough subsidies. In this situation, it turns out that to prevent decreases in the area of cotton plantations, it is necessary to lower production costs and provide price stability, along with long term policies consistent with other crops, through which subsidies are determined prior to the season.Additional key words: cotton, farmers' behaviors, gross margin analysis, logit model. ResumenComportamiento de los agricultores en relación con la disminución de la superficie de las plantaciones de algodón de Turquía; el caso de Izmir Se estudiaron las razones económicas y sociales del comportamiento de los agricultores que expliquen la disminución de la superficie cultivada de algodón en la provincia de Izmir, Turquía. Para ello, 84 productores de la zona fueron encuestados. Según los resultados del estudio, el coste, el margen bruto y la producción en las fincas de algodón fueron 1.446,6€ ha -1 ; 524,4€ ha -1 y 4.018 kg ha -1 , respectivamente. En 2006 el área de las plantaciones estudiadas disminuyó un 44% respecto del año 2000 y, según los agricultores, se explica principalmente por la disminución (55%) de los precios de venta y por el aumento de los costes (36%) del algodón cultivado. La posibilidad de abandonar/no abandonar el cultivo está negativamente afectada por el nivel educativo del agricultor; en cambio, está afectada positivamente por la experiencia en el cultivo del agricultor y el tamaño de la familia de éste. En cuanto a las variables estructurales/económicas, el tamaño de la finca afecta negativamente, pero la posibilidad de obtener primas y el margen bruto tienen efectos positivos. Los agricultores también demandan un aumento del 90% en las primas y aseguran que abandonarán el cultivo a menos que obtengan subsid...

Evaluating spatial and temporal variation in agricultural output elasticities in Turkey

“…Given the regional differences in the Turkish agricultural sector, the literature of the relationship between agricultural output and input factors in Turkey typically focused on the technical relationships transforming input factors into agricultural production in a given region (e.g., Erdal et al., ; Ozsbuncuoglu, ; Tipi and Rehber, ; Tipi et al., ; Topak et al., ; Uzmay et al., ; ). Despite the spatial patterns evident in agricultural output and input use, and the importance of the regional disparities in Turkish agricultural sector recognized in the literature, aggregate agricultural production models have rarely been explored in a spatially explicit framework.…”