Economic and social effects of support through cooperatives to dairy farms: Case of Adana province

The aim of the study was to assess dairy farming project carried out by cooperatives in both in terms of producers and cooperatives, to determine problems and to bring suggestions.Data obtained in the study was evaluated using Factor Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis and ANOVA Test.According to the findings of the study, desired economical results could not be obtained in the end of the project as the number of distributed animals and their efficiency levels were not adequate, farmer were selling milk at prices under the cost of production and the cooperative did not operate effectively. On the other hand, there were certain benefits in social sense such as the effective use of labor force, creation of new work fields in rural areas, prevention of rural-urban migration and the encouraging producers to become organized. In addition, there were also some developments achieved in the project like the renewal of barns of farms and the increase in the production of fodder plants.To make the project more effective, the number of distributed animals should be increased, animals should be highly efficient and of good quality, certain support should be given to meet fodder demands which is an important production input, producers should be trained for a high quality and more hygienic production, marketing conditions should be improved and cooperative should be financially supported.