The features of farmers preferring environmentally friendly agricultural methods: the case of Turkey.

Abstract

The agricultural sector has a strategic importance; therefore, the primary goal of every country is to ensure self-sufficiency in terms of agricultural produces. For this reason, the agricultural sector in every country has been supported. Agricultural support policies for product prices and inputs have caused increased productivity and intensification in the sector. Nevertheless, this intensification and growth in agriculture have also brought about various environmental problems. The adverse effects of agricultural activities on the environment can be specified as loss of biodiversity and deterioration in the quality of soil, water and air. With the increasing public awareness, governments have integrated environmental concerns into the agricultural policy to solve these environmental problems. Recently, the impact of agriculture on the environment has become a significant issue for agricultural policy in Turkey. Turkey has introduced many policy measures in agriculture to encourage and promote environment. One of these implementations is to support producers who prefer agricultural practices foreseen in the environmentally based agricultural land protection. In this study, the common characteristics of the producers participating in the Environmentally Based Agricultural Land Protection Program (CATAK) in KA±rAŸehir province, one of the provinces where this program has been started as a pilot area study in Turkey, have been determined using the Multi Correspondence Analysis Method. The producers participating in CATAK program are those with higher education levels and larger enterprises compared to other producers and are more innovator. At the same time, it has been determined that these producers are more sensitive to the environment. Key words: Agro-environment policy, policy implementations, CATAK, support programs, Turkey.