Agricultural supports and farmers’ satisfaction: A latent variable application in Turkey

Abstract

Agricultural supports are given with different quantities and purposes around the world, such as exemption from tax, granting subsidies or agricultural insurances, among others. These supports have a great impact but its benefits to farmers are not generally known. The influence of these supports on farmers is pointed out by evaluating the farmers’ satisfaction. In this sense, it was obtained a data from 426 producers in order to analyze the agricultural supports regarding farmer´s satisfaction. The first and second-order latent variables are analyzed by applying the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to the survey data obtained for the evaluation of farmers’ satisfaction. The factor loadings and fit index were sufficient and the structure validity and reliability of the model were ensured. The most effective variables influencing the farmers’ satisfaction related to the agricultural supports are the supports maintaining the financial structure and livestock support. Results indicate that farmers need to be supported more in terms of input use and crop production.