Examination of cotton producers perceptions on climate change and agriculturel insurance: The case of Aydın

For the thesis study, the socio-demographic characteristics of the producers participating in the survey, their perspectives on climate change, agricultural insurance and TARSİM were determined. The producers are all male and the average education level is secondary school. The agricultural product chosen for the research is cotton. All of the producers produce cotton and besides cotton, they grow barley, wheat, sunflower and corn as a second product. The most important reasons for growing cotton are their livelihoods and being a family activity. Due to the high level of risks, uncertainties and problems in agriculture, the most common problems faced by producers are disease control, production conditions and lack of sufficient information. %16,67 of the producers want to stop producing cotton due to age and health. There are subsidies by the state in agriculture and %89,58 of the producers benefit from these supports. % 92 of them have information about climate change that has been going on for years. There are multiple causes of climate change, and most of the producers stated that it is due to the thinning of the ozone layer caused by harmful gases released into the atmosphere. Producers in the product they have grown due to climate change; They stated that they were affected by issues such as being undecided in the sowing-planting time, decreasing the product quality and being insufficient in agricultural control. It was determined that %92,71 of the producers had 15-20 years of knowledge about agricultural insurance. Manufacturers who do not have regular insurance; They stated that they did not take out insurance every period due to reasons such as having irregular income, not seeing any risk in the area where their land is located, and policy costs exceeding their budget. While %52,08 of the producers included them in the first adopters group of TARSİM, they stated that TARSİM did not provide sufficient training and promotion for them.Producers stated that they are affected by climate change, that they purchase agricultural insurance to protect their products against the risks that may occur, and that the information about agricultural insurance in general is insufficient, that the damage costs are paid late, product coverage is kept low, insurance premiums are high, and that insurance is a good method to protect from risks.