Investigation of business functions in agriculture business: An application of Bilecik

The purpose of this study was to explore the business functions in agricultural businesses in the province of Bilecik. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data to make inferences about the subject matter at one point in time. The study was conducted over a one-year period with a sample of 135 total participants. A personal information form and a questionnaire with 66 questions developed by the researcher was administered to the participants in agricultural businesses. The researcher collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Descriptive statistics and content analyses were used to analyze the data obtained from the research. The results indicated that51.9 percent of the agricultural businesses in the province of Bilecik cultivating crops in 1 to 200 decares. This result shows that agricultural businesses try to cultivate in small areas and this leads to low production amounts. The primary cause of this problem, it is thought, is the inheritance law that provides the agricultural lands getting smaller and smaller from generation to generation. The findings also indicated that the number of people working in agricultural businesses is rapidly getting older. However, during the study it is observed that the farming population in the villages are leaving their villages and the villages are nearly empty. This situation comes up as a socioeconomic problem. The results also showed that most of the agricultural enterprises are small family businesses and the traditional business model is still continuing in these establishments. This research study suggests that by turning the small businesses to middle-sized and large businesses, the agricultural output, productivity, and economy of Turkey will grow faster than ever. The research further supports the claims that by doing legal regulations about land consolidation, the agricultural businesses can grow faster and enter the international markets easily. By doing so, the agricultural export can be a driving force of overall exports in Turkey. Based on the results, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research were discussed.