Analysis of Agricultural Insurance Application in Thyme Production: The Case of Denizli Province

Abstract

The agricultural sector has a strategic and vital importance in the economies of all countries with different levels of development in terms of many socio-economic criteria. In terms of its basic features, the agricultural sector is significantly dependent on natural conditions in the production process. Today, no matter how much advanced high technology is used, the dependence of agricultural production on natural conditions continues. Agricultural insurance is the most effective method that could be used to eliminate the damages caused by the risks and uncertainties that threaten agricultural production. History of agricultural insurance practices in the world dates back to 18. century whereas goes back to 1950s in Türkiye. Today, the main basis of agricultural insurance throughout the country is the Agricultural Insurance Law enacted in 2005. Agricultural insurance practices which are applied for agricultural activities have been carried out by the Agricultural Insurance Pool Enterprise that was established in accordance with the relevant law. As for the year 2022, approximately 3 million policies were created across the country in return for an insurance that amounts about 296 billion TL and with a premium production of 4,8 billion TL. As for the same year, 3,4 billion TL of damage payments were made within the scope of agricultural insurance throughout the country. In this study, the differences between the enterprises that have agricultural insurance and those that do not have been examined with the help of the data obtained from 82 thyme producing enterprises determined by the Simple Random Sampling method in Denizli. In the study, it has been determined that the rate of agricultural insurance in thyme production was 29,27% (for 24 enterprises). This rate has also showed that the enterprises having insurance consists of the 47,71% rate in total thyme production areas and 43,63% in production amount. According to the results obtained in the research, in the enterprises that have insurance in thyme production; The average thyme production area has been calculated as 73,35 da, the average yield value has been 86,97 kg/da and the production value obtained has been calculated as 1.332,95 TL/da. These values were found to be lower than those of enterprises that did not have agricultural insurance. The differences between the groups were found to be statistically significant at the level of 1%, 10% and 10%, respectively. The research has showed that statistical differences between the enterprises that have insurance in the production of thyme and the enterprises that do not are significant in terms of; age (5%), education (10%), thyme production experience (5%) and human labor use per decare (5%). The research has shown that the education level of the producers who have insurance in the enterprises examined is higher than those who do not, and the average age of individuals is 5 years younger than those who do not have insurance.  The study revealed that the production value obtained depending on the yield and sales price in the enterprises where agricultural insurance is applied is lower than in the enterprises that do not have agricultural insurance. This situation reveals that the producers in the research area should focus on training activities on thyme production techniques. Having examined the literature on the same issue, it is seen that agricultural insurance practices are insufficient in all kinds of agricultural activities. The findings obtained in this research seem to confirm this opinion. To popularize agricultural insurance practices, training, publication, promotion, and information activities should be emphasized at the enterprise level.