Economic Structure and the Problems of Thyme Producer Farms in Denizli

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the marketing structure and problems of thyme producer farms in Denizli province, and to suggest some solutions for their problems. The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis was performed in order to improve efforts and projects. Denizli province was chosen as our study area that produces 89.2% of total thyme in Turkey and has 93.6% of total planted lands. As a result of interviews with 100 thyme producer farms, it was determined that the average age in thyme producer was 48.01 years, their agricultural production experience was 28.1 years and their experience in thyme production was 8.79 years. The average land size of interviewed farms was 5.04 hectare. Of these lands, thyme production was executed on 2.44 ha which was 48.48% of the average land size of those farms consist of thyme-planted lands. The main problems in thyme production in the region were mainly insufficient technical information, problems in harvesting, and the fluctuations in thyme prices.