Abstract:

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the socio-economic characteristics of rose growers and the sources growers tend to consult when in-need of information. Material and Methods: The study is undertaken in Keçiborlu, Gönen and Central Districts of Isparta Province. These three regions have the highest area of rose production and the highest number of growers in the province. Simple random sampling method was used to determine the sample size to be 152. Proportional distributions, chi-square and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) were used in the analysis of the data. Results: The average age of rose growers is found to be 45.7 years. The majority of growers are males (92.1%) with high school and/or university education (54.9%). The average number of persons per household is found to be 3.1. In terms of their declared occupation, farmers with 32.9% takes the first place; followed by self-employed (20.4%), worker (19.7%) and civil servant (14.5%). It was determined that 67.8% of the growers received the most useful information about rose farming from family elders, relatives or neighboring producers; 20.4% from pharmaceutical dealers; 7.2% from provincial / district directorates and 4.6% from private counselors. A MCA analysis indicate growers most willing to continue to grow roses are high school graduates and are between the ages of 31-45. Conclusion: According to the results of the research, while pesticide dealers are rose growers’ first contact as source of information when they encounter a problem, they receive most useful information from family elders / relatives / neighbors, agricultural pesticides dealers and agricultural / provincial directorates. It was also found that the information obtained from pesticide dealers did not result in the expected benefit and did not satisfy the growers’ need, and the state institutions fell behind among sources of reliable information.

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