Evaluation of Roughage Production Potential in Turkey: The Case of Kırşehir Province

Abstract

It is well known that the need for quality roughage to maintain the level of intake by livestock is not met in Turkey. It is a fact accepted by everyone that the resulting deficit is tried to be compensated by using cereal straw. The annual roughage production of Turkey is 29.6 million tons, which meets 37.6% required amount for maintenance of 17.1 million animal units in Turkey. The quality roughage needed in Kırşehir province is 836.3 thousand tons for 181.8 thousand animal units, whereas the current roughage production is only 97.4 thousand tons. The roughage deficit of Turkey is 49 million tons while this deficit is 738.9 thousand tons in Kırşehir. The deficiency in roughage production in Turkey is much more critical in Kırşehir province. The compensative ratio of quality roughage production in Kırşehir province is only 11.6%. Therefore, increasing the quality of roughage production has become an urgent obligation for both Turkey and Kırşehir province. The funded roughage production by the government has led to a significant increase in the cultivation areas and the amount of production. However, even these increases are far from meeting the current need. To reach the targeted quality roughage production; (1) the culture of forage crops should be adopted by the producers, (2) the forage crops should economically be competitive with the other crops, (3) the farmers should be convinced of the benefits of roughage other than the need for animal feeding, and (4) pastures should be improved and used according to management rules.

Keywords

• animal population
• cultivation area
• roughage
• kırşehir province
• forage crops