Adopted measures by tomato farmers for coping with drought: a case study for Turkey

S. Engindeniz, G. Ozturk Cosar

Abstract: The two years drought that has hit Turkey’s major wheat, fruits and vegetables growing regions in the west of the Marmara, in the middle zones of Central and Eastern Anatolia and in the huge part of Aegean, Mediterranean, Southeastern Anatolia Regions is a wake-up call for Turkish policymakers to step up efforts to protect agricultural production from extreme weather. If impact of drought on agricultural production cannot be minimized, the drought will more than likely put a stop to the ongoing rise in rural incomes, a precondition to narrowing the country’s huge income gap. In this study, effects on tomato farmers of meteorological drought which experienced in Izmir, Turkey in 2007-2008 period were analyzed. Data was collected from 86 farmers by survey. In the analysis of data, firstly socio-economic characteristics of the farmers were examined, after farmers’ attitudes and behaviors towards irrigation and drought were analyzed.

Keywords: attitude and behavior analysis; climate change; drought; tomato growing

Date published: 2019-07-23