Plant protection problems in greenhouse tomato growing areas, farmers plant protection practices and awareness level: Amasya province example

In Amasya, greenhouse tomato cultivation is carried out on 3286 decares of 130602 decares of land where vegetables are grown, and 62283 tons of tomatoes are obtained from this area. 60420 tons of this production is produced in 3180 decares of greenhouse in Amasya Central District villages (Anonymous, 2021). This amount constitutes approximately 1.5% of the total Turkey production. In recent years, when the importance of food security for the social order of countries and strategic relations between countries has increased, it is essential to eliminate the problems that may arise in food supply. One of the most important pillars of this is plant protection practices. Plant protection problems in greenhouse tomato cultivation can cause significant losses. Product losses up to 100% can occur if the necessary precautions are not taken. This study will shed light on the plant protection problems encountered in greenhouse tomato cultivation in Amasya Province, the control practices and the plant protection products used. The study was conducted in the form of a face-to-face survey with 242 farmers and 31 plant protection products dealers. This study revealed that plant protection products dealers are the most important sector stakeholders, where producers supply the inputs (seeds, fertilizers, plant protection products) they need and receive support during plant protection struggles. 77.4% of plant protection products dealers update their information by using the internet, 67.7% by company representatives, 64.5% by using subject experts and 58% by using scientific written sources. Dealers produce solutions by themselves with a rate of 96.7% regarding the plant protection problems encountered by the producers during production, and direct them to the Provincial or District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry at a rate of 22.5%. The most important practices of the producers before planting are 95.9% mulching, 88.4% medicated seed-seedling use, 83.5% collecting and burning the plant residues in the greenhouse, 70.2% tool-equipment cleaning, 66.1% dipping the seedlings with pesticides and planting, applying pesticides for 64.5% nematodes and soil pathogens. In order to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, greenhouse tomato growers should be supported with more effective methods for biological and biotechnical control methods. Supporting the solarization application will greatly reduce the use of chemical pesticides against soil-based plant protection problems.