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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a traditional crop species in Turkey that is cultivated in almost every province providing prominent economic income. Turkey has an important resource for both Cicer spp diversity and their phytopathogens like ascohyta blight caused by Didymella rabiei (Kovachevski) von Arx wherein resistance/tolerance is broken every 4-5 years in cultivated chickpea cultivars. In order to breed resistant/tolerant varieties in chickpea against D. rabiei, detailed and up to date analyses on population characterization is needed. This study was undertaken to define current aggressiveness patterns, pathotype and mating type distribution of D. rabiei population in chickpea growing areas of Turkey. The D. rabiei isolates were assigned to 5 virulence groups in which existence of pathotype IV, a new and aggressive group, was defined for the first time from farmers’ fields and research institutes exhibiting continuous arm race between plant and pathogen. The isolates in each pathotype group depicted statistically important difference (P≤ 0.05) in virulence levels on chickpea genotypes. The mating type distribution of 971 D. rabiei isolates was 1:1 for Mat 1.1 and Mat 1.2 isolates (X²= 0.87, P= 0.35) exhibiting random sexual reproduction. Overall, the data obtained revealed the unstable aggressiveness nature of D. rabiei population in Turkey, which, in turn, explains frequent resistance overcome in registered chickpea genotypes leading to epidemics.

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The study spatially explored the farm-level opportunity cost of protecting environment and examined the sufficiency level of government support for covering farm level of opportunity cost in TR83 region of Turkey. By using questionnaires, research data were collected from randomly selected 334 farms that participated in Environmentally Friendly Agricultural Land Protection Program (EFALP) and purposively selected 27 conventional farms. Farm-level opportunity cost of protecting environment was calculated via subtracting gross revenue calculated under condition of protecting environment from the gross revenue calculated under conventional ones. Gross revenue under conventional condition and under condition of protecting environment was elicited by using the MOTAD linear approximation of the quadratic programming. Sufficiency of government support for protecting environment was revealed through taking the difference between farm-level opportunity cost for protecting environment and total government support payment for environmental consideration to farm included in EFALP. Research results showed that government support paid to sample farms did not cover opportunity cost of farm for protecting environment in TR83 region. Considering spatially differentiation of farm-level opportunity cost for protecting environment when policy makers determine the quantity of government support may positively enhance the dissemination of EFALP programs and reduce the adverse effects of agricultural practices.

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The purposes of the study were: (i) To comparatively estimate the economic performance and productive efficiency of owner and sharecroppers in Kaş District of Antalya Province in Turkey, (ii) To find out the factors affecting the profitability of owner operators and sharecroppers, and (iii) To formulate the policy options in the light of findings. Research data were collected from randomly selected 58 owner operators and 45 sharecroppers by using questionnaire. Cluster analysis was performed to select similar sharecropper and owner operator in terms of farmers’ profile, farm income, and land size. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the efficiency measures. Research result showed that labor cost of sample farm had largest share in total farm expenses. The tomato and pepper yield of sharecroppers were higher than that of owners. Net farm income of owner operator and sharecroppers per hectare were $44518.3 and $51248.8, respectively. The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency of owner operators were 0.724, 0.729 and 0.528, respectively, while that of sharecroppers was 0.851, 0.598 and 0.509, respectively. Sharecroppers had higher technical efficiency score compared to owners, but reverse was the case for allocative and cost efficiency scores. According to the research findings, farmers can increase their technical competence, if both owner operator and sharecropper improved their skills by participating in training and extension programs. Implementing performance-based earning systems may accelerate improving farmers’ technical capability. Reorganizing of farm and controlling marketing cost may also be beneficial for increasing economic efficiency in the research area.

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There have been serious problems in optimizing capacity management due to lacking detailed analysis of the current business model in Licensed Grain Warehouses (LGW) in Turkey. Therefore, the study's objectives were to economically analyze the standard and industrialist business models and examine the capacity management optimization in LGW in Turkey. Research data were collected from managers of warehouses by using semi-structured interviews and observations. Management records of the examined firms were also used to elicit warehouse-level data. MOTAD model was used to generate a capacity optimization plan under risky conditions. Research results showed that the capacity use ratio of two different business models was nearly the same, and both had smaller capacity use ratios than that of the optimum. Inventory turnover of the industrialist business model was higher than that of the standard one (P< 0.01). The amount of loss was lower than 1% in both business models. The gross income of the industrialist business model was larger compared to a standard business model. MOTAD programming results revealed that, with government incentives and support, optimizing the storage organization in the industrialist business model increased the gross revenue of licensed warehouses by 177.27%. Ensuring the optimum capacity management would reduce the need for working capital by 21.69%. The study suggests conversion from a standard business model to an industrialist one and controlling and monitoring inventory turnover to optimize the capacity of LGW.
 

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Designing the flexible investment strategies for maximizing returns under spatial variation and considering uncertainty in beef cattle investment decision-making are vital. Therefore, the objectives of the study were (i) To explore the real options and its values spatially for beef cattle investments in Turkey, and (ii) To evaluate the adequacy of government support for beef cattle investment spatially. Research data were collected from randomly selected 385 beef cattle farms by using questionnaires. The valuation of real options was assessed by using Binomial Valuation, Black-Scholes Method and Monte Carlo simulation. Tornado diagram was used for exploring sensitivity of decision variables for beef cattle investment. The results of the research showed that the classical Net Present Value (NPV) value was -200.82 thousand US $. The NPV values of the options of wait, expand, and input-output change for the beef cattle investment were US $102.37 thousand, 43.87 thousand, and 24.50 thousand, respectively. The research findings also showed that the value of real options and adequacy of government subsidies varied spatially. Based on the resuts of the sensitivity analysis, the most important variables affecting the investor's decision are carcass meat price, yield rate, capacity utilization rate, and fattening feed price, respectively. The research suggests that policy makers should consider the spatial distribution of investment subsidies and policies to the specific needs of different regions to increase efficiency of investment support policy.