THE ENERGY USE EFFICIENCY DETERMINANTS OF PEACH PRODUCTION IN SAMSUN PROVINCE OF TURKEY

The study examined the energy forms and balance in peach production and determinants of energy use efficiency in Samsun province, Turkey. Research data were collected from 43 randomly selected peach producers by using a well-structured questionnaire. Both energy analysis and the stochastic production frontier approach were used to investigate the energy balance between the energy inputs and yield in peach production and reveal determinants of energy inefficiency. The research showed that output energy was greater than energy inputs for peach production and farm level energy efficiency scores differed associated with the characteristics of farms and peach producers in the research area. The energy productivity, specific energy, energy intensiveness and net energy of peach production were 0.60 kg MJ(-1), 1.67 MJ kg(-1), 1.73 MJ $(-1) and 2429.96 MJ ha(-1), respectively. Energy analysis also showed that the main determinants, which influenced the energy use efficiency positively, were schooling, experience, the ratio of peach orchards to farmland and family size. However, the variables of total assets, working capital, number of trees and number of plots showed a negative relationship with energy efficiency. The study proposes strategies such as providing better extension services and farmer training programs, enhancing specialization in peach production, decreasing the number of plots and balancing the working capital use together with controlling the distribution of total assets in order to increase the energy use efficiency for peach production in Samsun province.