Analysis of Farmers' Environmental Attitudes and Approaches in a Major Fruit-Growing Area: The Case of Lake Egirdir Wetland, Turkey

Lake Egirdir, located in the Lakes Region of Turkey in the Isparta province, is the fourth largest freshwater reservoir and the second largest lake of Turkey based on surface area. Significant fruit-growing activity takes place around Lake Egirdir, and The lake is faced with environmental risks due to erroneous agricultural implementation and the use of chemicals. The aim of the present study was to use factor analysis to examine the environmental attitudes and approaches of farmers in a major fruit-growing area regarding the sustainable use and protection of Lake Egirdir. The primary material of the study comprised original data collected from 135 farmers conducting fruit-growing activities around Lake Egirdir. A total of 29 hypotheses were presented to the farmers to identify their environmental attitudes and approaches regarding the protection of Lake Egirdir and their level of agreement with each hypothesis was identified using a Likert-type scale. The principal component method was used in the factor analysis of the acquired data. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for these 29 hypotheses was calculated as 0.749. The number of factors was reduced to nine as a result of the factor analysis. These nine factors explain 69.6% of the total variance and were identified to be the most important factors explaining the environmental attitude and approaches of the farmers. These factors and their ratio of explaining the total variance are: Factor 1 "Reasons for agricultural pollution at Lake Egirdir (14.99%)"; Factor 2 "The conscious and optimal chemical input use in agricultural production (10.05)"; Factor 3 "The economic and social importance of Lake Egirdir (10.01%)"; Factor 4 "The irrigation water characteristics of Lake Egirdir (7.34%)"; Factor 5 "Measures for the prevention of agricultural pollution (6.92%)"; Factor 6 "The impact of chemical input on drinking water quality and biological diversity (6.07%)"; Factor 7 "Sensitivity of the farmers toward the living things in and around the lake (5.53%)"; Factor 8 "Decrease in fish diversity and population in the lake (5.25%)"; and Factor 9 "Impact of erosion on the Lake Egirdir (4.06%)". These results obtained from the study provide important data for policy and decision-makers with regard to the protection of Lake Egirdir, its sustainable use, sustainable fruit production based on environmental pressure and pollution on the lake, and the encouragement of environmentally friendly growing methods.