Small scale cattle farmers and their sustainability in lowland villages of Adana province, Turkey

In Turkey, livestock sector represents 30% of the contribution of agriculture to gross domestic production (GDP). There are 4 million agricultural enterprises, of which 96% are mixed crop-livestock farms. Cattle are kept on approximately 65% of farms; the mean number of animals on these farms is 4 cattle. Fragmented structure of the cattle farmers is accepted problem by the many groups of people. Their sustainability and contribution to national welfare are neglected. But in the world, small-scale farms described as grow high quality food, active in civic life and essential to the economic vitality of both their hometowns and the nation. In this study, small scale cattle farmers and their sustainability in lowland villages of Adana province were investigated. Primary data resource of the study is the survey carried out among the dairy farmers located in Ceyhan, Yumurtal?k and Karatas district. Dairy farmers were selected randomly during the village visits. Survey study was carried out using faceto-face interviewing method from September 2003 to June 2005 and 105 (Ceyhan (n=40), Yumurtal?k (n=35) and Karatas(n=30)) dairy farmers were interviewed during this period