KSU TARIM VE DOGA DERGISI-KSU JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURE, vol.21, pp.190-197, 2018 (ESCI)
The agriculture sector always maintains its importance in all countries mainly due to its economic contributions to the components such as employment, export, investment, raw material creation and creation of value added, especially in meeting the food needs of the society. Also, agricultural sector in Turkey continues its importance in all matters referred predominantly. However, at this point, despite the importance, there is a aging producer problem in agriculture causing them moving away from agriculture. On the other hand, the choice of agriculture or urban migration as alternatives makes it very difficult for young agricultural producers or candidates to choose. This issue does not give positive signals for sustainability of the country's agriculture in the future. As it is known that farmer's decisions and behaviours are influenced by several factors such as economic, social, cultural, political, geographical and psychological factors. In this respect, the correct determination of the basic factors that cause the producers' tendency to "stay" or "not stay" in agriculture is vey important for the future food security and ensuring sustainability of agriculture in terms of ensuring the socio-economic sustainability of rural areas. In this study, it is aimed to discuss the tendency of farmers to maintain or not to continue agricultural activity by using secondary data. Taking into consideration the multidimensionality of agriculture in a wide frame, examining the reasons of farmers for leaving the agriculture will be a big step towards the welfare and development of the country with its agricultural production adequacy.