Investigation of credit use and finance risk management in citrus production in Antalya

Citrus fruits, which are becoming increasingly important in the agricultural sector, are popular in the world and in Turkey with their richness of species and variety, a very long harvest period, a very long storage period, suitability for transportation and being an industrial raw material; it is a product group consisting of rare fruits that are subject to production, consumption, industry and trade. Citrus production, which meets 17,79% of the total fruit production in the world as of 2021, is made in 138 countries and China, Brazil and India are the leading countries in this production. Turkey is in the 7th place with a share of 3,31%. In Turkey, within the total fruit production realized in 2022, citrus fruits constitute the most grown product group with a share of 18,70%. Among the 20 provinces where citrus is produced, Antalya ranks 4th with a share of 10,88%. Due to the unique characteristics of agricultural production, citrus producers encounter many negative factors in production, these factors can cause fluctuations in production and, as a natural consequence, fluctuations in prices. While the fluctuations in prices create uncertainties in the incomes of the producers, they also frequently cause the enterprises to experience capital insufficiency, long-term planning and financing problems. The problems experienced in citrus production make it necessary for the producers to resort to external sources. For this reason, agricultural loans are of great importance in terms of sustainable production of enterprises. In this study; it is aimed to reveal the socio-economic structures of the agricultural enterprises producing citrus in Antalya, to examine the credit use of the producers in agriculture in general terms, to determine the sources of financial risk arising from the use of agricultural credits and to reveal the risk management strategies they apply against these risks. The primary data of the study consists of face-to-face surveys conducted with citrus producers in Antalya province Finike, Kumluca and Aksu districts between January and May 2022. The surveys were conducted in 110 enterprises determined by stratified random sampling method based on the citrus production areas in the enterprises. According to the results obtained from the study; producers have an average age of 54 years and an average experience of 30 years. The average land width in the enterprises is 38,37 decares and the average number of parcels is 3,02. Citrus land assets within the total production areas of the producers; although it is 2671.7 decares, the average orange production area is 22,49 decares, the lemon production area is 9,79 decares and the mandarin production area is 7,92 decares. The most important reasons for citrus farming in the research; It is popular in the region and has information about citrus production. At the beginning of the problems faced by the producers in citrus production in the enterprises is the increase in the input costs every year, followed by the insufficient organization of the producers and the lack of an effective marketing organization, respectively. The solutions offered by the manufacturers against these problems are; supporting basic inputs, encouraging research to increase productivity and quality, helping the state more in production and marketing, and acting as an intermediary institution between the producer and the buyer. 49,09% of the producers in the enterprises use loans for agricultural purposes; the most important reasons for using credits are completing the working capital deficiency and supplying agricultural inputs. 90,74% of producers using loans prefer Ziraat Bank. 18,52% of the producers stated that they took the loan on behalf of someone else, 27,78% stated that they had difficulties in closing their loan accounts, 48,15% stated that the title deed value had a negative impact on the loan demand. In addition, the most important sources of financial risk faced by producers are; changes in input costs, inflation and indebtedness, and the strategies they apply against these risks are determined as planning expenditures, reducing borrowing and increasing solvency.