The use of certified seeds of improved wheat varieties in farms and the contributions of certified seed usage to enterprise economies: the case of Ankara province in Turkey.
In this research, the use of certificated seeds of improved wheat varieties in farms of Ankara, which have an important share in wheat production of Turkey and the contributions of the certified seeds usage to enterprise economy have been evaluated by using data collected from farms via a questionnaire. The low level of use of certificated wheat seed in farms is associated with many factors, such as price of the seed (cost), yield gains and suitability of the varieties for the farming aims of producers. Average productivity is 49.5% and average net profit is 39.7% higher in the production of wheat with certificated seeds of improved varieties in farms in comparison to farming with traditional varieties. Average productivity in wheat production with uncertified seeds of improved varieties is 24.9% and net profit per unit area is 24.3% higher than wheat production with traditional varieties. The net economic benefit of wheat production using certificated seeds of improved varieties and that of wheat farming with uncertified seeds has been estimated at $ 102.40 and $ 62.70 ha(-1), respectively. Some $ 6.4 benefit is generated in return for $ 1 of expense in wheat farming with certificated seeds of improved varieties instead of traditional varieties. In the absence of state subsidies for certificated seeds the use of uncertified seeds seems to be advantageous for producers. While the amount of subsidy per hectare will be a minimum of $ 101 for certificated seeds per hectare of planting area (as technological improvement), the support will be encouraging for usage of certified seeds. Many variables, such as farm size, use of certified seeds, topography of land, production system, education level and frequency of visiting the agriculture organizations of the producers influence the level of gross profit per unit area in wheat farming. Low level of use of certificated seed in farms decreases the economic benefit of new varieties which are developed as a result of long term research and development studies and with a large amount of expense and causes the return of expenses to take a long time, if ever.
Tanrivermiş
Harun
H
Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Faculty, Ankara University, Diskapi, Ankara, Turkey.
Akdoğan
Ilyas
I
D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D018525:Germination; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012639:Seeds; D014908:Triticum / Q000254:growth & development*; D014421:Turkey