Agribusiness and contract farming: the case of tomato production in Turkey

After the US, Italy, China and Spain, Turkey is the largest grower of processing tomatoes in the world. Growing tomatoes for paste is one of the two major uses of contract farming in Turkey and this activity involves arrangements between private paste companies and farms. This practice is now wide spread since the 1970s, especially in the Marmara Region. Before the production season begins, paste industry firms sign contracts with farms that guarantee the quality and quantity of their raw material, and guarantee the growers sales at predetermined prices. In addition, plants served to farmers for more productivity by techniques such as drip irrigation and also their extension services and field demonstrations at this region. This research is based on interviews with 100 farmers that are growing tomatoes for paste factories in the Bursa province, to determine relationships between plants and farms and factors affecting tomato cultivation land. In this research, farms were divided into two groups based on tomatoes cultivation land. It was found that factories had a strong influence on tomato growing by means of input and supports on finance to the farms with logarithmic models.