Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.The four principles of organic agriculture are: • Sustaining and enhancing the health of the soil, plants, animals, humans, and the planet as one and indivisible. • It should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, and work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.• Building on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities.Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 24, No. 4 (2015), 1543-1551 Original Research Conventional Dairy Farmers Converting to Organic Dairy Production in TurkeyTayfun Cukur* AbstractOrganic agriculture is a form of agricultural production in which chemical input is not used and where each step from production to consumption is controlled and certified. Organic agriculture is focused on realizing agricultural activities without polluting soil, air, and water sources. In addition, organic agriculture is an environment-friendly production form that protects plants, animals, and human health. Therefore, adopting and applying organic agriculture methods is increasingly being considered by farmers. There are three primary aims of this study: to determine whether or not dairy farmers are aware of organic agriculture, to determine farmers' tendency toward organic production, and to determine the effective factors on farmers' tendencies to produce organic milk. In the study, probit analysis was used with the purpose of determining the factors on farmers' tendencies to produce organic milk in the future. According to the conducted probit analysis results, a positive relationship exists between considering enlarging the farm, applying innovations, being informed about organic agriculture, and farmers' tendencies to produce organic milk in the future. On the other hand, a negative relationship was found between the distance of the farm to the Milas district center, educational level of the farmers, and farmers' tendencies to produce organic milk in the future. It was determined that an important part of the participating farmers had information about organic agriculture. However, the main reason for farmers to tend not to produce organic milk in the future is not having sufficient information about organic agriculture. Therefore, courses and seminars should be held to increase the knowledge level of farmers in the district about organic stockbreeding. In addition, education and extension activities aimed at organic milk production should be organized. Thus farmers with insufficient information about organic agriculture and those with no information about organic agriculture would be informed about this subject.

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Yerel ürünler n küresel bazda daha fazla değer kazanmaya başlaması, coğrafi şaret (Cİ) tesc l konusunun gerek dünya gerekse Türk ye gündem nde ele alınması gereken zorunlu b r konu hal ne get rm ş ve beraber nde lg l çalışmalara da hız kazandırmıştır. Türk ye'n n coğrafi ürün çeş tl l ğ d kkate alındığında dünya coğrafi şaretler pazarında bugün ve gelecekte de alab leceğ pay açısından d kkat çeken b r konumda olduğu görülmekted r. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türk ye'n n tarım ekonom s ne öneml katkılar sağlayan ller nden b r olan Muğla l nde coğrafi şaretl ürünler çeş tl yönler t bar yle ele alarak, kırsal kalkınma kapsamında değerlend r lmeler ne yer vermekt r. Çalışmada Türk Patent ve Marka Kurumu'nun stat st klerden yararlanılmıştır. Ayrıca daha önce yapılmış çeş tl çalışmalar le Muğla l nde yer alan kuruluşların konu le lg l raporlarından elde ed len ver ler kullanılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, Muğla l nde Cİ'l ürün sayısının artırılması kırsal kalkınma açısından önem taşımaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Cİ'l ürün konusunda gerek üret c ve gerekse tüket c lerde farkındalık yaratacak çeş tl b lg lend rme çalışmalarına önem ver lmes gerekl görülmekted r.

The main objective of this study is to determine the factors affecting the application of innovations for dairy farmers in the Milas district, Muğla province, Turkey. Data from 71 dairy farmers and the Multinominal logit model are used for this study. The dependent variable of the model is divided into three categories; “I don’t apply any agricultural innovations”, “I apply agricultural innovations only after other farmers apply and express their positive opinion” and “I apply agricultural innovations”. In conclusion of the analysis, the comparisons are done with the farmers who “do not apply any agricultural innovations,” and the farmers who “apply agricultural innovations only after other farmers apply and express their positive opinion”; it is determined that a one unit increase in educational level raised the likelihood of applying innovations after receiving positive opinion. When the farmers that “apply agricultural innovation”, and that “apply agricultural innovations only after other farmers apply and express their positive opinion” are compared, it is found that a one unit increase in the number of milking animals had increased the likelihood of applying the innovations.

This research aims to find out the marketing problems of the beekeepers in Muğla province, Milas district of Turkey and offer potential solutions. The main material of the research is the data gained via surveys, performed as face-to-face interviews with beekeeping farmers in Milas district. According to the data of Milas District Agriculture and Forestry Directorate, 721 beekeepers constitute the main part of the research. The proportional sample size has been determined as 62 people. The most significant problems that farmers face during the production are diseases and pests by 53.2%, while the most significant problem during marketing is the low selling price of honey by 80.6%.