Comparative ecologic, economic and policy analysis of greenhouse tomato production systems: Antalya province case

It is known that all kinds of activities in agriculture affect the environment and these activities are affected by the environmental conditions. In this way, the relationship between the agriculture and the environment appears in two ways. In consequence, because of modern production methods, agriculture is one of the most affected areas from the causes and consequences of the environmental pollution. Mediterranean Region is at the top of the list, where the agricultural production activities are carried out intensely. The primary product group in the region is fresh fruits and vegetables among which the tomato is in the first place. Especially fresh fruits and vegetables are the basic premise of greenhouse production in winter. Both countrywide and regionwide, the most intensive greenhouse tomato production for export as quantity is in the Antalya province (1.712.000 tonnes and 18% of Turkey). Additionally, in Antalya province, the product for which the most input is used per area is tomato. The tomato production in the region maintains its importance for both domestic and overseas market. In the region, tomato is cultivated by using different production techniques. The best usage of resources, in the region, which is seen as a big chance for tomato production, plays an important role in keeping the sustainability of available possibilities and resources for the future.The main objectives of this study are; to identify the environmental pollution of different tomato production methods by using internationally verified quantitative indicators; to examine the effects of agriculture policies on the production method preferences of the producers and their input usages; to explore the agriculture policies and the environmental pollution relations. It will help the constitution of suitable and efficient policy strategies that consider the environmental impact assessments. The data source that is used in the study comes from the primary data which is retrieved by the face to face surveys with the producers. The scope of the research area is Merkez, Kumluca and Serik counties where tomato production is intense in terms of quantity and area. In the study, indicated by stratified sampling methods, the number of conventional greenhouse cultivations is 148, and modern greenhouse cultivations is 25. The analysis within this study is designed in three sections, and primarily, the pollution criterias during different production methods are created by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), one of the ecological analysis techniques. In the second section, agriculture cultivations are compared by their cost principles. In the third section, the relation between the variables affecting eco-friendly production methods and the agricultural policies is examined using the Cragg?s Double Hurdle Econometric Model. By using this model, not only the question if the producers benefit from agricultural subsidies or not, but also the question how the producer choices are affected in tomato production and which variables are affected, is tried to be answered. In the study, the production methods are determined by the results gained by comparing the production systems economically and ecologically, and by the agricultural production and the subsidy tools. The pollution to the environment coming from the production systems and the utilizations, are identified according to the assessment scales to be set in the study. In the study, the evaluation is made in the categories of abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, global warming, toxicity, freshwater and seawater ecotoxicity. The indications coming out from the analysis results are; for the global warming, among the inputs which is being used in agricultural production, nitrogen based fertilizers are 75%, for human toxicity, the pesticide usage is in the first place with 40%, and for eutrophication, the phosphor based fertilizers are 60%. When the agricultural inputs used in conventional and modern greenhouses compared, the main difference comes from the fossil fuel usages (diesel, coal etc.) It?s calculated that in the conventional cultivations, the tomato gross production value per decare is 29.719,5 TL and in the modern cultivations it is 49.017,5 per decare. The cost analysis reveals that the profitability in the modern greenhouse systems is greater than as it is in the conventional systems. It strengthened the idea that it?s the first cause leading to transformations in the production systems and also strengthened the expectations that the investments for the modern greenhouses will increase by the time. The political analysis reveals that the income variable is an important variable. It was found that the implemented policies have effects and a major part of them should continue. Additionally, it is determined that the subsidy tools to protect the natural resources cause the producers? preferences to change. For Turkey, there has been no research that empirically analyses the environmental and agricultural policies and covers them together. The research, in which the original data and new methods at nation level are used, is expected to create originality and to become a resource for further studies.KEY WORDS: Tomato production systems, Life Cycle Assessment, Cragg?s Double Hurdle, Agricultural policy tools, Antalya.