Knowledge level of vegetable growing farmers on organic production in Diyarbakır province

Year 2018, , 155 - 159, 20.12.2018

Vedat Pirinc , Abdurrahman Kara Zafer Akturk Songül Akin

https://doi.org/10.31015/jaefs.18026

Abstract

As was the case in the World, intensive input use was seen
the only remedy to increase agricultural productivity so that to meet the needs
for food and raw material in the second half of the last century in Turkey.
Accordingly, chemical fertilizer and pesticide use were supported and
encouraged. Unconscious chemical use increased the plant production but
resulted in poor quality products and human health disorders. As a result of foodborn
and environmental health problems, a new type of agricultural production was urged
and encouraged by the conscious customers all over the World. This is called
organic or ecologic farming which aims to restore the unwanted outcomes of
intensive or conventional agriculture and produce healthy food to satisfy customer
demands. In achieving the goals of organic production and increasing organic
food production it is of great importance to unveil the knowledge level, problems
and requests of the producers since culture, customs, social environment and
the knowledge accumulated over years shape the agricultural production. In this
study, it is aimed to reveal the knowledge level and production customs of the
organic vegetable producers in Diyarbakır province. Study data was collected
from the vegetable growing farmers with structured questionnaires through face
to face interviews. Sample size was determined using simple randomized sampling
method. In analysis of the data descriptive statistics method and Chi-Square
test was employed. Study results revealed that about 61% of the respondents did
not have their soils tested. It was also determined that of all respondents 81%
act according to their own knowledge when covering the plant nutrient
requirements of the soils as 7,5% consult their friends or neighbours and only
about 2% followed the recommendations of agricultural experts. The most striking
result, on the other hand, was that only about 27% of the respondents accepted that
they had adequate knowledge on organic farming while the rest not.

Keywords

Organic agriculture, sources of information, vegetable growing, level of knowledge and consciousness

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