Determination of international competitiveness of corn production (TR63 region example)

The purpose of this study is to reveal the effects of maize production, competitiveness level and public interventions on competitiveness in the TR63 region of Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye and Hatay provinces. Simple random sampling method was used in the selection of subjects and data were obtained from 189 enterprises in total.Data Envelopment Analysis was used in the calculation of the efficiency of the enterprises, and Explained Comparative Advantages was used in the calculation of competitiveness and Policy Analysis Matrix was used to determine the effect of public interventions on competitiveness.According to the results of the study, the average age of the producers participating in the study was 52.2, the agricultural work time was 35.4 and the average corn cultivation area was 102.8. The most important problems encountered in maize production were the high input prices and marketing problems.According to the results of the efficiency analysis, the technical efficiency score of maize production in the TR63 region ranged from 0.572 to 1,000, while the average technical efficiency score was calculated as 0.838.In the analysis carried out with the Policy Analysis Matrix, the social profitability of maize production in the TR63 region was calculated as 381 TL and the positive value of the social profit indicates that the domestic inputs used in maize production are used effectively.The domestic cost coefficient of maize production in the TR63 region was calculated as 0.60. The domestic cost coefficient shows that maize production is internationally competitive and is a sustainable production activity in terms of social profitability. The fact that maize, which is a highly competitive and sustainable production activity, has a qualification level of 87.8% in 2016 reveals the necessity of the implementation of the implemented agricultural policies through the reform process. The development of agricultural policies supporting productivity-based production will increase the competitiveness of agricultural products, and will have a positive impact on the efficiency of enterprises.