INTER-SECTORAL COMPETITION FOR WATER AND A RESEARCH ON IRRIGATION PERCEPTION OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES IN HARRAN PLAIN

Abstract

While the world population has increased by 4.4 times in the last century, water consumption has increased by about 7.3 times. The agricultural sector consumes approximately 70% of the world's water resources. The water demand of sectors such as industry, energy and municipal services is also increasing. The resulting competition means that other sectors demand a share of the water used by the agricultural sector. It is expected that the agricultural sector will be negatively affected by these developments, which contain new risks. Agriculture is also blamed for negative externalities such as excessive water use, water scarcity and environmental pollution. The main factors affecting the excessive and inefficient use of water in agriculture; producers do not have to pay the real cost of water and their misconceptions about irrigation. In this context, the perceptions of agricultural enterprises in the Harran Plain about irrigation were investigated. One-way analysis of variance was applied to the data obtained through face-to-face survey. The most striking result obtained from the research; 31.1% of producers have the perception that using more water will increase efficiency. Education and income independent variables are statistically significant (p