The effects of industry integrated agricultural sales cooperatives from the sustainable development perspective

Today, agriculture, industry and service segments of the economy are dependent on each other by cause and effect relationships. Talking about development in a country or in any region of a country is only possible if the agriculture, industry and service sectors are presented in a harmonious style. For the economic development of countries, the necessary importance should be given to agriculture in that country. The agriculture and industry sectors, which form the basis of the economy, should show parallel development. Because, for the economic development of the countries, the industrial and agricultural sectors must be integrated with each other. In order to achieve a sustainable development in a balanced way, there should be a good cooperation between agriculture and the parties that provide input to agriculture and evaluate agricultural products. The aim of this study is to reveal the current structure of agricultural sales cooperatives integrated into the industry and reach the findings regarding their contribution to the realization of sustainable development goals. The problem sentence of the research is, can agricultural sales cooperatives integrated into the research industry contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals? The research method used in this study is the interview technique of collecting data in qualitative research in obtaining primary data sources. For this purpose, Trakya Birlik, Marmarabirlik and Tariş Zeytin ve Zeytinyağı Birliği were contacted. The reasons for choosing these three cooperatives are that these cooperatives are known to consumers, their product diversity is excessive, they have provided agricultural industry integration, they export, they have effective brands in the market and are among the top 500 industrial enterprises in Turkey. It can be a good model for rural industry, rural employment and rural development with the benefits it provides at every stage until the finished product, the facilities it spreads to the rural areas, the employment opportunities it creates and the population it keeps in the rural areas, and the additional improvement measures to be taken in accordance with the economic conditions of the day. Key words: Agriculture, Industry, Integration, Cooperatives, Sustainable Development