Exploring the Relationship Between Farm Size and Productivity: Evidence From Hazelnut Production in Türkiye

Abstract

The relationship between farm size and productivity continues to be one of the most enduring debates in the agricultural economics literature, yet no consensus has emerged from an empirical perspective. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between farm size and productivity in T & uuml;rkiye's hazelnut farms. The material of the study consists of the data obtained from 105 hazelnut farmers according to the stratified sampling method. The chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) algorithm was used to examine the relationship between farm size and productivity. According to the results of the research, average hazelnut farm size is 25 decares and yield in the farms is 120 kg per decare, which is well below the yields of competing countries. The farmers have been cultivating hazelnut for more than 33 years. The average hazelnut sales price is only $ 3. The findings of this study were anticipated to have important policy implications for understanding small-size producer behavior and the mechanisms driving the inverse relationship between farm size and land productivity. Results support the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity on hazelnut production. When there has been a significant decrease in hazelnut yield due to climate change in recent years, policy makers should focus more on small-scale farms in order to increase hazelnut yield. Whether farmers receive extension services or not plays an important role in theoretically explaining the inverse productivity relationship in the study. Other factors that significantly affect yield include the number of "Ocak". The results emphasize that agricultural extension services should be given importance in hazelnut yields.