Economic Performance of Apple Farms: A Case of Isparta and Karaman Provinces of Turkey

Abstract

Apple cultivation has been done in very large areas around the world. According to FAO, approximately 87.2 million tons of apples were produced in the world in 2019. Turkey has covered 3.6 million tons of this production and ranked third in the world. In this study, the two major apple production areas for Turkey, Isparta and Karaman annual operating results of the province apples' farms, were evaluated. Data acquired by interviewing from 132 farms selected with the stratified random sampling method constituted the study's primary material. Classical economic analysis approaches were used in determining the annual operating results of the farms. The farms' financial and economic profitability rates were 8.82% and 7.78% in Isparta province, respectively, while 7.25% and 6.15% in Karaman province. The research results showed that apple farms did not have rational capital distribution, their agricultural incomes were low, and their income varied by province.