Paddy Rice Production Costs and Factors Affecting Paddy Rice Productivity: Case Study in Sinop Province, Turkey

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the paddy rice production costs in Sinop province, Turkey and the factors affecting the paddy rice yield. A face-to- face questionnaire was conducted with 164 producers determined using the proportional sampling method. Socioeconomic characteristics of the producers and other characteristics of paddy rice production were analyzed with simple descriptive statistics, and production cost and profitability were determined with economic calculations. The factors affecting the paddy rice yield were determined using the Cobb-Douglas production model. The average size of paddy rice production field in Sinop province was 41.65 decares. Total cost of paddy rice production per unit area was $1,414.74. The variable costs constituted 83.74% of total production costs of the producers, while 16.26% were the fixed costs. Maintenance costs constituted 41.63% of the variable costs. The highest share in maintenance costs was fertilization (44.84%) and spraying (29.26%). The results revealed that the size of cultivation area and irrigation had a negative impact on paddy rice yield, while the age of producers and fertilization had a positive effect on yield. Determining the production cost helps small farmers to select suitable inputs to reduce their risk associated with climate change or market fluctuation. Therefore, the findings of production cost studies should be disseminated to producers through extension staff. In addition, the importance of record keeping for the production costs should be explained to the producers and the records of previous season may help the producers to be cautious about the future production costs. Extending extension services in the region may help producers adopting good agricultural practices on paddy rice production and increase the profitability.