- Sosyal Bilimler Araştırma Dergisi
- Vol: 6 Issue: 4
- Sunflower Production and Agricultural Policies in Turkey
Sunflower Production and Agricultural Policies in Turkey
Authors : Sema Konyali
Pages : 11-19
View : 10 | Download : 6
Publication Date : 2017-12-01
Article Type : Other
Abstract :Sunflower is one of the most important oilseed crops in Turkey and in the world. In the world, 11% of crude vegetable oil production is supplied by sunflower. In Turkey, 47% of the crude vegetable oil production is supplied by the sunflower. Cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) is one of the principal sources of edible oils produced by annual field crops in Turkey. The total production of sunflower is 1.670.716 tons in Turkey. The average yield of sunflower was 410 kg/da in 2016 (TSI, 2016), despite changes in the regions. Turkey which has 4% ratio of sunflower production is in the first ten countries in the world. However, Turkey sunflower production is not sufficient even for domestic consumption. In Turkey, there is a continuous increase in consumption of vegetable oil, which is the result of rapid population growth and the increase in per capita consumption. However, due to the increasing population and consequently consumption per capita, the oil production cannot meet the consumption, and the increasing oil deficit is eliminated through imports. Turkey imports sunflower seeds, processed and raw sunflower oil for many years. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the sunflower production areas and yield. Sunflower planted areas and production was decreasing in the last years due to low prices mainly both in Turkey and the world. In addition, increasing of the agricultural input prices of sunflower is higher than sunflower intervention prices in Turkey. It is a problem for producers because they are affecting negatively. The oilseed production is supported by the government with premium applications, input subsidies and tariff quota applications. Within the scope of agricultural subsidy, premium support was given to the oil sunflower the same as 0.3 TL/kg for the years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. It is necessary to increase the premium system to provide its continuity. Therefore, sunflower production should be promoted by applying more qualified and more consistent policies in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to examine the economic problems in sunflower farming and to propose solutions by evaluating the structure of the Vegetable Oil Industry and existing agricultural policies in Turkey.Keywords : sunflower production, vegetable oil, agricultural support