Contract Farming in Buckwheat Cultivation

Contract farming is a deal between a producer and a buyer regarding cultivation of an agricultural product characteristically. In reality, terms and conditions of these contracts can alter dramatically. It can refer to those arrangements involving public firms, government organisations or NGOs and can also refer to private schemes. In this paper, it is only focused on contract farming on arrangements between farmers and private actors. In recent years, buckwheat has gained increasing notice as a promising functional food, owing to its several human health issues and lack of gluten. This study examines buckwheat farmer’s involvement in contract farming in districts of Gümüşhane province which is in the northeast of Turkey. An empirical analysis of the contract farming regarding the buckwheat farmers and postharvest practice has been provided. The survey was conducted in Kelkit, Köse and Şiran districts as only production places of the buckwheat in the province. Data collected from 30 farmers who are engaged in contract farming model. According to data, issues of the contract farming, marketing channels of the buckwheat and perspectives of the farmers for the buckwheat production with contract farming are addressed. The findings of this study reveal that the contract farming model, mostly eliminates the marketing-related concerns of the farmers in the region. Perceive benefits derivable from beginning to buckwheat contract farming was measured based on the following proposals (the commitments to purchase product, the market guarantee, the compliance with the contract terms, purchasing at the agreed price and timely payment) was evaluated using 5 point likert scale. As a result, buckwheat contract farmers should be monitored by the contract buyer for the continuity of the production.