Aspir (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Üretiminin Ekonomik Yönü Üzerine Bir Analiz: Konya-Beyşehir İlçesi Örneği, Türkiye.

In this study, it was aimed to reveal the socio-economic aspect of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) production in the Beyşehir district of Konya/Türkiye, as well as the profitability compared to other plants. In the study, data were collected from a total of 31 safflower producers in the Konya-Beyşehir district through a questionnaire, and economic analysis of safflower production was carried out as of 2019. The average safflower land is 22.21 decares and the grain yield per decare is 91.36 kg, and the average selling price is 1.2 TL. Variable costs per decare were 139.27 TL, total fixed costs per decare were 227.99 TL, and total production costs per decare were 367.26 TL. In the gross profit calculation made, the producer makes a loss of approximately 30 TL from safflower per decare. However, when oil is obtained from safflower, the gross profit per decare increases to 134.85 TL. Instead of selling the product they produce directly, it is possible for the safflower producers to add value to the product by processing the safflower seeds in cold press machines and extracting the oil. In this way, the producers in the region will be able to avoid losses and make a profit. This condition may also provide job opportunities for many oil processing establishments that are idle due to a lack of raw materials. The state should update the guarantee purchase support of the product applied in the past years and increase farmer training and extension services to utilize the uncultivated idle areas with safflower agriculture, expand the production of safflower, which is an alternating plant, and to use the safflower pulp as animal feed after processing in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]