Conventional Fruit Farmers' Opinions on Organic Agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices: The Case of Zonguldak Province, Turkey

Abstract

In order to eliminate the negative effects of conventional agriculture on human health and the environment, organic agriculture and good agricultural practices have become widespread in recent years and researches on this has gained importance. The aim of this research is to determine the opinions of farmers engaged in conventional fruit farming on organic agriculture and good agricultural practices in Zonguldak province located in the Blacksea Region of Turkey, and their thoughts on the transition to these production systems in the future. Survey data consist of questionnaires conducted with 125 fruit farmers engaged in conventional agriculture. According to the results of the research, the rate of farmers who think that chemical fertilizers are used in organic agriculture is 12.00%, and the rate of those who think that pesticides are used is 46.40%. In good agricultural practices, 25.60% of the farmers think that chemical fertilizers are not used, and 12.80% of them think that pesticides are not used. These results show that the farmers do not have enough knowledge about organic agriculture and good agricultural practices and that they are not sufficiently aware of the application principles of these systems. While the rate of farmers who intend to switch to organic agriculture is 28.00%, this rate is only 8.80% in good agricultural practices. The adoption of organic agriculture and good agricultural practices by farmers depends on the profitability of these farming systems compared to conventional agricultural products. For this purpose, especially considering the increasing input costs in recent years, the supports given to organic agriculture and good agricultural practices should be revised.

Keywords

• fruit growing
• organic agriculture
• good agricultural practices
• sustainable agriculture
• zonguldak province