The Effects of the Level of Fertiliser Use on Sunflower Production PDF

Keywords

Sunflower, fertiliser use, agriculture policies, environment, Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the level of farmers' fertilizer use, the factors affecting it, and the relationship between agricultural policies and environmental problems arising from excessive fertiliser use. Sunflower producers have used 20.92 kg N/da, 14.33 kg P2O5/da and 2.22 kg K2O/da although the extension unit has advised 10-15 kg N/da, and 8 kg P2O5/da in sunflower production to compensate for lowered plant nutrients in the soil. This means that there is an excessive fertiliser use problem in the research area. Only 21.7% of farmers have applied fertiliser according to the result of soil analysis. In the use of plant nutrients, it has been found that factors such as farm area, source of fertiliser, irrigation possibilities, financial credit usage situation, and the quality of land were statistically significant but other factors such as land usage situation, educational level of farmers, and decision making on fertilization were not statistically significant.