Socio-economic analysis of suruç plain irrigation in şanliurfa province: A case of plant production

All living things need food to survive. The need for food, which started with hunting and gathering, continued with agricultural production. Meeting the ever-increasing human needs with the scarce resources found in nature is the most important task of agriculture. The nutritional needs that are tried to be met through agricultural activities are affected by many factors, the most important of which are soil and water. Meeting the safe and sufficient food needs of citizens is one of the primary duties of the states. The largest project carried out to date for the effective and economical use of water and land in our country is the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). Within the scope of GAP; there are many projects such as dams, hydroelectric power plants, irrigation systems, agricultural infrastructure services. In this context, the world's fifth and Turkey's longest irrigation tunnel was built in the Suruç Plain and became operational in 2015. Significant changes have occurred in the plant pattern with irrigation in the Suruç Plain. In this thesis study, changes in farmers' crop patterns with irrigation, factors affecting farmers' views on agricultural production, and attitudes and behaviors of irrigation methods towards efficiency and water saving were investigated. This study was prepared by applying a face-to-face survey in 66 of 95 villages in Suruç District of Şanlıurfa Province. These constitute the primary data of the research. The sample was calculated with a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error, and 383 surveys were conducted. In addition, data obtained from Şanlıurfa Agriculture and Forestry Directorate Farmer Registration System was used to determine the crop pattern. These constitute the secondary data of the research. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis Variance tests were used in the analysis. According to the results, the average land size of the participants was calculated as 71.38 decares (da), the average income from agricultural activities was calculated as 1 780.72 TL/da, and the total average income was calculated as 2 031.30 TL/da. In the analysis of the factors affecting farmers' views on agricultural production, no significant results were obtained for the variables of cooperative, sources of information, and land availability. Significant changes were obtained in education, credit, crop insurance, and age and income variables. In the analysis of farmers' attitudes towards the effect of irrigation methods on yield and water saving, significant results were obtained for pressure irrigation methods, drainage water, ground water and alternative product preferences of the participants who thought that irrigation methods had an effect on yield and water saving, but no significant results were obtained in other expressions. According to the crop pattern results obtained using secondary data, in the Suruç Plain plant pattern between 2015 and 2023, there were increases in the areas of second product corn, cotton, alfalfa, vegetable and fruit production, and decreases in the areas of products such as barley, lentils and chickpeas grown in dry conditions has been detected. In the research, it was determined that input costs and climate problems were effective factors on farmers. It is recommended that effective publication efforts, organization and water-saving substitute products should be included more in the product design in the research field.