Possible effects of climate change on the agricultural production economy of sugar beet in Central Anatolia

Sugar beet and sugar cane are the most common sugar products in the world. The sugar beet, which is a temperate zone plant, is a very important agriculture product for Turkey considering its contribution both to production of sugar and its subsidiary products and to other sectors. In this study, the changes in sugar beet production and sugar beet economy in Turkey were analyzed based on the projections made by IPCC amid the discussions on the effects of climate changes. Seventy percent of the Turkey's sugar beet is produced in Central Anatolia. The observation station data of the most productive eight city obtained from the database of MGM were analyzed by comparing the future scenarios and the results were compared to existing conditions, an estimate has been made for the sugar beet and sugar productivity. Due to the lack of certain meteorological data, there has been difficulties in this study. A significant change is not expected in the sugar beet production in the future, whereas a supply deficiency in sugar beet production is expected due to the population growth. Furthermore, the water shortage due to the increase in temperature and decrease in rainfalls requires modern irrigation methods in order to water-saving in farming. In order to deal with sugar supply shortage, the efficiency improvement of sugar beet production is recommended. Non-performance of the studies relating to the efficiency improvement will cause import dependency on both sugar and subsidiary products in the future. Considering the contribution of sugar beet to the other sectors, sustainability is of great importance. Key Words: Sugar Beet Agriculture, Central Anatolia, Climate Change, Future Analysis, Agricultural Production Economics