No abstract

In this study, the objective was to determine the factors affecting farmers’ decisions on organic livestock. Within this scope, the Gümüşhane province, in which one of the major organic livestock projects has been carried out, was taken into the focus of attention for this study. The data of the study was obtained from 134 surveys based on census and focusing on farmers doing conventional animal breeding and possessing 25 or more cattle. The data obtained were used in predicting the Logit Model. In the model, it was determined that the inclination to transition to organic animal breeding in institutions where the rate of benefiting from animal breeding supports and the rate of meeting forage requirements from their own are high and besides where the rate of using industrial feed is low. As a result, it was recommended that the government support for forage crops, which are already within the current support policies, should be increased on yearly basis. This will have a positive effect on the decision of the farmers to choose organic livestock. This support is also important in terms of carrying out livestock activities in more profitable and technical way.

No abstract

At present, arable agricultural areas especially in the developed countries have reached to their last limit. This necessitates intensive farming, which requires the use of intense input to meet the growing demand. The most important components of intensive farming in agricultural production are chemical input, qualified work force, high capacity production material and mechanization. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the level of mechanization in developing countries such as Turkey. This study is carried out to determine the factors affecting tractor brand preference and purchase behavior of farmers in Erzurum province. Material of this study is obtained from the questionnaires conducted in face to face interviews with 185 farmers who are randomly selected from Yakutiye, Aziziye, Palandöken, Hasankale, Aşkale and İspir districts in Erzurum province. According to the results of the study, the average land size of farms is 175 decares, while only 57 % of this lands are irrigated. The average parcel number of the enterprises is 8, while the distance of these parcels to the enterprises is determined to be 3.2 km. 55.1 % of the farmers have purchased brand new tractors. The most important factors that affect farmers' brand selection are fuel consumption, price, spare parts and service network respectively. The least effective factors in brand selection are promotional and advertising activities and after-sales customer visits. According to the results of logit regression analysis, the education level of the farmers and the annual maintenance expenses of the tractor were found to be statistically significant when they preferred any brand.

No abstract