The effect of Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution on rural development in Turkey

While the rural population decreases in time due to migration process from rural to urban in Turkey, large cities became impossible to live in because of mass migrations. In order to provide a balanced development process, efficient projects and policies should be developed and carried out regarding the development of rural areas. In this framework, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI) was founded in 2007 in Turkey with the purpose of supporting rural development and EU harmonization process. In this context, the aim of this study is to put forward the contribution of ARDSI towards agricultural production, hence, rural development. In accordance with this purpose, first it was attempted to determine whether or not there is a difference between the pre and post establishment of ARDSI in 42 cities where there are provincial coordinations and the difference between 42 cities with provincial coordinations and 39 cities without provincial coordinations in terms of agricultural production level. As results of the analyses, it was determined that ARDSI positively affects agricultural production level even in a short period