The Comparison of Innovative Technology Usage Levels of Dairy Farms Supported and Non-Supported by IPARD Program; A Case Study of Konya

The purpose of this study is to compare innovative technology usage levels of dairy farms, supported and non-supported by The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance-Rural Development (IPARD) program, by scoring their usage level of 10 innovative technologies in their dairy farms. Another purpose of the study is to determine the factors associated with the innovative technology usage levels of dairy farms. The main material of the study is dairy farms supported and not supported by the IPARD program in Konya. Full count sampling method was used when determining the dairy farms supported by IPARD Program and Neyman allocation sampling method was used when determining the dairy farm non-supported by IPARD program. Research data were collected from 50 dairy farms supported by IPARD program and 100 dairy farms non-supported by IPARD program by administering a questionnaire filled during the face-to-face interviews conducted with each individual respondent. As a result of the study, it was determined that the average gross production values and gross profits of dairy farms supported by IPARD program were 4 times higher than those non-supported by IPARD program. While innovative technology usage level of dairy farms non-supported by IPARD program were entirely low level, 90% of dairy farms supported by IPARD program were high level. From the point of view of dairy farm scale, it was determined that innovative technology usage levels were high (69.84%) in dairy farms that had 51 and more milking cows. As a result of chi-square independence test, statistically significant relationship was found between innovative technology usage level of dairy farm and 12 of 13 factors.