The population is an indispensable element of the economy and is the source of labour for agricultural enterprises. Population also affects agricultural production, depending on age, gender and level of education. Socially and economically, the fact that there are more job opportunities in urban centres and the preference for agricultural mechanisation, rather than labour in the production activities of agricultural enterprises has increased internal migration and caused the population to increase in urban areas and decrease in rural areas.

When analysing the gender distribution of the population in the enterprises within the scope of the research, it was found that in Çatak district, 45.60% of the population was female and 54.40% male. In Edremit district, 45.95% were female and 54.05% male; in Gevaş district, 46.92% were female and 53.08% male; in Tuşba district, 41.25% were female and 58.75% male; and in Bahçesaray district, 48.12% were female and 51.88% male. It was found that 47.00% of the average enterprise population in the study region was female and 53.00% was male (Table 3).

Table 3. Table 3. Distribution of the population by sex in the investigated enterpriese

According to the survey data, the age group 15-49, which was defined as the economically active population of the enterprises within the scope of the research, had the highest proportion of females and males in the total family population with 45.82% and 51.25% respectively. The +50 age group was in second place with 31.37% female and 33.39% male, followed by the 7-14 age group with 15.40% female and 11.85% male. The 0-6 age group had the lowest rate with 7.41% female and 3.51% male.

Within the economically active population, the fact that the 15-49 age group was almost half of the total population engaged in agricultural activities showed that the research region had an active 15-49 year old labour force (Table 4).

Table 4. Table 4. Distribution of population by age and sex in Çatak walnut production enterprises Source: Own elaboration.

It was expressed as the available labour force in terms of male labour units (MLU) ¹ in enterprises. The MLU was calculated to eliminate age and gender differences. In the surveyed enterprises, the average family labour force was calculated as 1.21 MLU for females and 1.88 MLU for males, and 3.09 MLU in total. As the majority of the enterprises were small family enterprises, it was found that the labour requirements of the different production activities in the enterprises were generally covered by the family labour force and there was no foreign labour (Table 5).

Table 5. Table 5. Distribution of the labour force in the enterprises in relation to the MLU Source: Own elaboration.

Table 6 shows the educational level of the population aged 6 and over in the surveyed enterprises in the study region. It can be seen that 89.16% of the female population and 93.82% of the male population have at least a diploma. It can also be seen that 8.56% of the female population and 11.35% of the male population in these enterprises have completed primary education. The study found that there was no postgraduate population in the Edremit district (Table 6).

Table 6. Table 6. Educational status of the population in the enterprises analysed

Source: Own elaboration.

Information on the social security and occupational groups of the managers involved in walnut cultivation is shown in Table 7. When analysing the average age of the managers involved in walnut cultivation in the study area, it was found that 27.17% of them were in the 15-49 age group and 72.83% were in the 50+ age group. It was found that 18.90% of the managers in the region were illiterate, 23.62% were literate, 29.92% were primary school graduates, 23.62% were secondary and higher school graduates and 3.94% were university graduates. On average, 11.81% of managers were registered with BAG-KUR, 40.16% with Green Card, 39.76% with SSK and 8.27% with Retirement Fund. In addition, it was found that 37.40% of the business owners were only engaged in agriculture, 17.72% were workers, 22.05% were civil servants and 22.83% were pensioners. With the start of public or private sector supported walnut afforestation works for walnut production in Turkey, the demand of investors from different professional groups who are interested in walnut cultivation or who want to create different sources of income is increasing day by day. In similar studies, it was found that 65.13% of walnut farmers in the surveyed farms in Kaman district were aged 45 years and below (Kızılaslan and Erdemir, 2017). An another study conducted in the Central Anatolia region, it was found that the average age of farm managers was 43 years and 43% of the operators had high school and higher education, and 95% of those who were active in agricultural production had social security (Bayramoğlu et al., 2014). Çiftçi and Gökce (2006) found that the average age of walnut farm managers was 51.30 years and 40.00% of them had social security.

Table 7. Table 7. Characteristics of walnut breeding enterprises Source: Own elaboration.

The distribution and yields of the crops grown on the land of the farms in the research region are shown in Table 11. It was found that the farms have an average of 8.34 ha of arable land. In this area, alfalfa is the most important crop with a share of 30.66%. This is followed by sainfoin with 23.55%, wheat with 23.22%, barley with 17.52%, beans with 1.52%, maize for silage with 1.46%, sugar beet with 1.42%, potatoes with 0.40% and tomatoes with 0.25%.

In a study carried out in the province of Bitlis, the average area under walnut was 13.53 ha. Wheat is grown on 53.38%, alfalfa on 23.26%, potato on 5.45%, sainfoin on 5.22%, walnut on 4.78%, beet on 3.11%, beans on 2.23% and other crops on 2.57% of this area (Bostan, 2012).

Table 11. Table 11. Utilisation of agricultural land and yield of crops in enterprises (kg/ha) Source: Own elaboration.

An analysis of the orchard areas in the study area showed that the average area of production was 1.52 ha. Of this area, 1.30 ha was planted with çatak walnut trees, 0.14 ha with apple trees, 0.08 ha with apricot trees, 0.01 ha with pear trees and 0.001 ha with cherry trees (Table 12).

When the farms involved in walnut cultivation were examined in the studies, it was found that walnut trees were present on 0.65 ha of the 13.51 ha area (Bostan, 2012).

In the study area, Çatak walnut has the largest area in Edremit district with an area of 2.71 ha, while the number of walnut trees per hectare was 153.70 and the number of fruiting trees was 86.80. In Tuşba district, the total number of trees was 178.30 on an area of 1.35 ha, while the number of fruit-bearing trees was 62.20. In Çatak district, it was found that Çatak walnut was cultivated on an area of 0.88 ha. In Çatak district, the total number of trees per hectare was 169.50 and the number of fruit-bearing trees was 136.00. In Gevaş district, 205.70 trees were planted on an area of 0.78 ha, while the number of fruit-bearing trees was 101.80. In Bahçesaray district, there were 258.60 trees in 0.52 ha area and 173.70 fruit bearing trees. When the average of the study area was examined, the number of fruit bearing trees per hectare of çatak walnut, which grows 193.20 trees in 1.25 ha area, was found to be 112.10 trees (Table 12).

Table 12. Table 12. Utilisation of vineyard-orchards land in enterprises Source: Own elaboration.

The places where producers sell their products are shown in table 12. About 23.80% of the producers in the study area reported that they were unable to market their products. The producers stated that they had problems with pricing and marketing due to the lack of walnut crushing and processing plants in the region and the lack of unions or cooperatives. For this reason, producers sell about 39.26% of the products they produce themselves and the remaining 60.74% of the products are sold to retailers (Table 13).

Table 13. Table 13. Distribution of the places where the enterprises sell their products (%) Source: Own elaboration.

Two alternative marketing channels were identified for Çatak walnut produced in the research region.

1. Producer Consumer

2. Producer Retailer Consumer

According to the survey results, the average farmer selling price of in-shell walnuts in 2022 was calculated at 60.00 ₺/kg (3.46 €/kg). The market price of in-shell walnuts in 2022 was found to be 75.00 ₺/kg (4.33 €/kg), while the walnut retailer selling price was calculated to be 195.00 ₺/kg (11.25 €/kg).

Marketing margin of in-sheel walnut;

Marketing margin = 75 - 60 = 15.00 ₺/kg (0,87 €/kg)

Marketing margin of the walnut delivered to the consumer as walnut kernel; one kilogram of walnut kernel was obtained from 2.18 kilograms of shelled walnuts (corresponding to 45.9% yield). Accordingly, the price received by the farmer for the equivalent of one kilogram of walnut kernel (2.18 * 60) is 130.80 ₺ (7.55 €/kg).

Marketing margin of in-kernel walnut;

Marketing margin = 195.00 (11,25 €/kg) - 130.80 (7,55 €/kg) = 64.20 ₺/kg (3,70 €/kg).

It was calculated that 80% of the money paid by consumers for 1 kg of in-shell walnuts went to the producers and 20% to the intermediaries. On the other hand, it was found that 67.08% of the money paid by consumers for 1 kg of in-shell walnuts remained in the hands of the producers and 32.92% in the hands of the intermediaries.

According to the information obtained from the survey data in the research area, margins have been identified at different stages of the marketing process. The margin between the price paid by retailers for in-shell walnuts purchased from the producer is 15.00 ₺/kg (0.87 €/kg). On the other hand, the margin between the price the markets buy from the producer and the price they sell to the final consumer was found to be 64.20 ₺/kg (3.70 €/kg).

It was investigated whether the consumers were satisfied with the input prices in the production of Çatak walnut in the research region (Table 14). When the regional average of the enterprises was analysed, it was found that 82.40% of them were not satisfied with the input prices and only 17.60% of them were satisfied with the input prices.

Table 14. Table 14. Satisfaction with input price (%) Source: Own elaboration.

When examining the situation regarding the use of state agricultural support in the research region, it was found that 3.15% of the enterprises did not benefit from state support, 41.34% of those who did benefit from support were satisfied and 55.51% were not satisfied (Table 15).

Table 15. Table 15. Benefit from governmet support (%) Source: Own elaboration.

The lack of irrigation of agricultural land was noted throughout the region. Irrigation problems in walnut orchards were found to be of two types. It was found that irrigation in the study area is generally done by the keel method and floods and overflows caused by heavy rains block the irrigation channels. It was noted that the labour, time and cost of cleaning the blocked canals was high. Another irrigation problem was that the irrigation period set for each area in the region was not sufficient for walnut orchards, and therefore the walnut trees could not be irrigated in sufficient quantities.

The income status of the enterprise managers, which wa used as the dependent variable in the research, was a binary variable. The average age of the enterprises analysed was 55.16 years, the youngest manager was 21 years old and the oldest manager was 85 years old (Table 16).

Table 16. Table 16. Variable definitions and sample statistics Source: Own elaboration.

The results of the probit model and the marginal effects are presented in table 17. In the study, the variables obtained for age, education (illiterate, literate, secondary-high school graduate and university graduate), social security (Bağkur, Green Card, Ssk, Pension Fund), position of labourer or pension as a source of income were included in the probit model as factors affecting the income level of çatak walnut producers in Van province. According to the results of the model, the age of the operator, secondary school education, university education and fixed pension were found to be statistically significant. While the age and secondary education level of the operators have a positive effect on the extra income, the pension benefit has a negative effect. The income level of the producer was found to have a positive effect with increasing age in the model at the 5% level of significance. In other words, the level of income increases in direct proportion to the age of the producer.

Table 17. Table 17. Model results Source: Own elaboration. Notes.

Significance level : *** = 1%, ** = 5%, * = 10%.

In probit models, when the independent variables are increased by 1 unit, the “marginal effects” of the variables are examined to show how this change affects the dependent variable. Marginal effects show us how the effect of increasing the independent variable by 1 unit occur in the dependent variable (Demir ve Yavuz, 2010).

While the marginal effect of producer illiteracy was found to be positive and significant at the 10% level, the marginal effect of age was found to be positive and significant at the 5% level. The marginal effect of producer’s age was found to be positive and significant at 10% level. Regarding the level of education, the marginal effect of secondary and higher education and university education was found to be positive and significant at the 1% level. On the other hand, the marginal effect of the producer’s pension was found to be negative and significant at the 1% level. According to the model results, a 1% increase in age increases the probability of income growth by 0.6%. A 1% increase in the illiteracy of the producers in the study increases the probability of an increase in extra income by 3%. A 1% increase in secondary and tertiary education increases the probability of income growth by 3% and 4% respectively. A 1% increase in the number of producers receiving a pension should lead to a 2% increase in the income level.