Investigation of the relationship between agriculture and environment in Turkey

The aim of this thesis is to examine the effect of agricultural added value on environmental pollution using time series analysis methods. In the study, the relationship between ecological footprint, which is a comprehensive environmental indicator, and agricultural added value is investigated with annual data for Turkey in the period 1990-2020. The ecological footprint indicator, which is widely accepted in the literature as the dependent variable, is used. In the model created within the scope of the study, the independent variables are determined as agricultural added value, economic growth and renewable energy consumption in a way that is compatible with the literature. In addition, the non-linear effect on the environment is investigated with the square of the agricultural added value in the model. For this purpose, the ARDL bounds test, which allows analysis with variables at different levels, is used in the analyzes made. In addition, the causality relationship between the variables in the study is investigated with the Granger causality test. The findings obtained as a result of the analyzes reveal that agricultural added value has a positive effect on the ecological footprint in Turkey during the study period, while the square of agricultural added value has a negative effect. These results show that the increasing effect of the agricultural sector on environmental pollution disappears after a certain period and has a reducing effect on environmental pollution.