A research on the perception of cooperative principles and analysis of factors affecting member participation in the cooperative management of agricultural credit cooperatives: Case of Regional Union of agricultural credit cooperative in Balikesir

The driving force behind the successful implementation of cooperative is full implementation of cooperative principles. Cooperative organizations are managed by members. So for successful copperative applications cooperative principles must be known well by members. In this study the perception of cooperative principles and member participation in the cooperative management were investigated for determining cooperative awareness of cooperative members. Agricultural Credit Cooperatives were the target of the survey. Face to face surveys were conducted with the members of Agricultural Credit Cooperatives in Balıkesir, Bursa and Canakkale province. Nonparametric statistical methods, Logistic Regression Analysis and Fuzzy Paired Comparison Method were used for determining cooperative principles perception and participation in the cooperative management. According to Logistic Regression Analysis the farmers whom traine about cooperation, read the cooperation agreement and had place in cooperative management more aware than the others. So cooperative training should be expanded for development in awaress of cooperative. The farmers who join the agricultural meeting and use the internet are more willing to take part in the cooperative management. Farmers' access level to the internet should be increased in the study area. Furthermore, a method should be developed to increase farmers' participation level in agricultural meetings. According to likert scale score calculation the most correctly detected principle is "Democratic member control". The least correctly detected principle is "Autonomy and independence". So extension programs should be planned according to this ranking in the study area. According to Fuzzy Paired Comparison Analysis the first factor is for aim to be common to cooperative is "provide input supply". The first factor which is effective for use of credit from cooperative is "long terms credits". The first factor which is effective for choosing cooperative management is "feeling trust about candidate" Key Words: Agricultural Credit Cooperative, Cooperative Principles, Cooperative Management, Lojistic Regression, Fuzzy Paired Comparison.