A research on the characteristics and activities of producers in organic markets: a case study of Izmit and Sişli district

Bahar Aydin Can, Mesude Ünal

Abstract: Expanding the organic farming areas in Turkey is one of the goals of the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. For the increase and sustainability of production, there must be an increase in the demand for organic food. One of the important marketing fields where growers and consumers meet is farmers’ markets established periodically every week. This study analyzes the general characteristics of sellers in İstanbul/Şişli and Kocaeli/İzmit, products they grow organically as well as their production amounts, places where they procure inputs, fertilizer types they use, difficulties they experience in production, reasons why consumers prefer organic products, and sellers’ suggestions for increasing the demand for organic farmers’ markets. The organic fertilizer they used most was barnyard manure. For the purpose of identifying the difficulties they experienced in production based on whether or not the products sold by the sellers were grown by themselves, a chi-square analysis was made and the difference between variables was found to be significant (p = 0.001 < 0.05). The most significant reason why consumers preferred organic farmers’ markets was “healthy product” and “promotion” was in the first place for increasing the demand for organic farmers’ markets.

Keywords: farmers markets; input; organic; organic production; organic products; transition period

Date published: 2019-08-27