A Research on Forages Production and Problems in Gurpinar District of Van

Abstract

The purpose of thsis research was to determine production and problems of forages grown in Gurpinar district of Van. Eighty-seven forage producers were interviewed at Gurpinar district of Van province where forages are being produced intensively. The data belong to 2006 production period and were collected by means of questionnaires interviewing with persons in village. On these farms, the average population per farm was 6.74 people. The average farmer's age were 42.67 years old and had 23.49 years of farm production experience in overall farms. The average farm size was 52.05 decare. About 60.25% of the total land is irrigated and the remaining 39.75% is dry land. In 2006, 26.87 decare average land was planted with forages which are mainly alfalfa (20.14 da), sainfoin (5.34 da) and silage corn (1.39 da). The average cow, sheep and goat per farm was 2.05, 35.82 and 8.70, respectively. The main problems of forage production in region are lack of forage cultivation information such as, irrigation methods, usage of certified seed, and government related programmers (forage encourage programme). Also, they do not have enough tool and equipment for forage cultivation. Therefore, farmers should be trained on the topics of forage cultivation. Also, if villagers establish a cooperative, they can get tools and equipment easily. In the region, development on dairy and fattening cow breeding are depend on forage production. Therefore, forage production in the region should be more encouraged, especially, alfalfa, sainfoin, and silage corn production,