ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF DAIRY POLICIES ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TURKISH DAIRY INDUSTRY

The aim of this study was to comparatively analyze the impact of dairy farming policies on the socio-economic and technological characterization of dairy industry. Primary data were collected from dairy farms through the use of structured questionnaires and were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data obtained was analyzed using Chi-square (χ2) test. In this study, modern and traditional dairy farms were compared in terms of their socio-economic and technological characterization and structural farming practices, and adoption levels of dairy farming support services. The results revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the improved and traditional dairy farms in terms of education level of farm holder, gender of farm holder, agricultural credit use, purpose of dairy farming, farm land size, number of cattle, number of milking cow, barn type, size of barn, feeding system silage making status of farm, fodder crop growing, milk marketing channels, farmers’ reasons for choice in milk marketing channel, type of dairy farming supports received by farmers, use purpose of dairy farming supports by farmers, effects on modernization of dairy farms and increase in farm income of dairy farming supports variables. The result depicted that improved dairy farms benefit more from dairy farming and rural development supports than the traditional dairy farms. As dairying is the sole source of income in the area, the study concludes by highlighting the importance of government support for small and medium sized dairy farms in the study area. The conclusion is that policy makers should take into account socio-economic and technological characterization of dairy farms in implementation of dairy farming policies to ensure sustainable food security, food safety and farmers’ income.