AGRICULTURE OF LAVENDER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: ISPARTA/KEÇİBORLU-KUYUCAK VILLAGE MODEL

Abstract

The widespread type of production in rural section is agriculture, but agriculture, alone, is not able to provide employment for the rural population. Therefore, alternative activities which would increase the employment, solve the immigration problem and diversify the income should be expanded in rural areas (Kuter & Ünal, 2013). Agriculture plays an important role to provide sustainable development, to alleviate hunger and poverty (Schaller, 1993; Roy & Chan, 2012). On the other hand, sustainable agriculture should be sustainable ecologically, should be equal socially, should be applicable economically, and should be supportable politically (Schaller, 1993; Roy & Chan, 2012). Sustainability, one of the main components of rural development, reveals the major factors of agriculture- tourism concept (Ivona, 2003). Agrotourism, as a rural development factor; is assessed as a sub- type of rural tourism and ecotourism which is generally applied in disadvantaged agricultural lands (Demirbaş Topçu, 2007; Sungur, 2012; Çetin et al., 2017). Agrotourism is not a tool of development for local people of the area which is dependent on agricultural production but it is also important for enabling the sustainability of the agricultural areas (Demirbaş Topçu, 2007). Within this context as the research area, Kuyucak Village of Keçiborlu District of Isparta Province is hereby selected, which is an important settlement in terms of ecotourism potential due to its lavender fields and cultural values. Kuyucak Village with lavender agricultural to set an example for agrotourism studies in Turkey, have been effective in selected areas. In this study, “How should Kuyucak Village utilize lavender agricultural tourism within the scope of rural planning?” was searched for. The history of the village of Kuyucak with lavender started in 1975 with a pot of lavender, which was given to him by the owner of the rose oil factory after his visit to France. This pot was replicated with lavender steel method and distributed to Keçiborlu farmers. More seedlings were provided for Kuyucak Village. Lavender was first used as a hedge plant around the rose gardens, which are important in home gardens and Isparta production. In 1990s, lavender cultivation became widespread commercially in Kuyucak Village with the decrease in prices in rose production (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2019). With the “Future in Tourism” project carried out by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Anadolu Efes, the recognition of the region as “Lavender Scented Village” has increased. Kuyucak Village with lavender fields, is one of the places come to mind first known as agrotourism in Turkey. Kuyucak Village is to meet the 93% of Turkey's production of lavender, is a pioneer in the study of agrotourism (Başaran, 2017). Lavender is an important part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, a cultural and economic symbol of the region (Monge, 2013), and is also known as one of the indispensable elements of the landscape (Dossier de presse, 2013). In recent years, the village of Kuyucak has been compared with the Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, which is considered a role model in agrotourism (Bilgiç et al., 2016). With the increasing demand for lavender in recent years, lavender lands have increased to over 3000 decares (Güler & Korkmaz, 2018). Kuyucak Village has been branded in terms of lavender agriculture and rural tourism and provided an alternative livelihood to local people (Ongun et al., 2018). For these reasons, lavender agrotourism as the factor of rural development constitutes the main subject of this study. In this research, the existing situation of the region regarding lavender cultivation was evaluated and the opinions of local people were taken. In this context, survey was conducted in the study. In the evaluation of the questionnaires, chi-square test and frequency analysis were performed by using SPSS 25 program. The chi-square test concluded that all age groups are interested in lavender agriculture. Frequency analysis found that 12% of tourists from lavender by-products prefer lavender Turkish coffee and 11.7% prefer lavender crown. In this scope, it has been seen that lavender agriculture in particular has an important potential for rural development and local identity for Kuyucak Village. As a conclusion, relevant results and suggestions were discussed within the context of the agriculture-tourism works in the rural areas and the sustainability of lavender agriculture in the study area.Araştırma alanı olarak, sahip olduğu lavanta tarlaları ve kültürel değerleri ile ekoturizm potansiyeli açısından önemli bir yerleşim yeri olan Isparta İli Keçiborlu İlçesi'ne bağlı Kuyucak Köyü seçilmiştir. Kuyucak Köyü'nün lavanta tarımı ile Türkiye'de tarımsal turizm çalışmalarına örnek teşkil etmesi, alanın seçilmesinde etkili olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, “Kuyucak Köyü, kırsal planlama çerçevesinde lavanta tarım turizminden nasıl faydalanmalıdır?” sorusuna yanıt aranmıştır. Araştırmada lavanta tarımına ilişkin bölgenin mevcut durumu incelenmiş ve yerel halkın görüşleri alınmıştır. Bu kapsamda, araştırmada anket çalışması yapılmıştır. Anketlerin değerlendirilmesinde SPSS 25 programından faydalanılarak ki-kare testi ve frekans analizi yapılmıştır. Ki-kare testi ile tüm yaş gruplarının lavanta tarımı ile ilgilendiği sonucuna varılmıştır. Frekans analizi ile lavanta yan ürünlerinden turistlerin %12'sinin lavantalı Türk kahvesi ile %11,7'sinin ise lavanta tacını tercih ettiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu kapsamda özellikle lavanta tarımının Kuyucak Köyü için kırsal kalkınma ve yerel kimlik açısından önemli bir potansiyele sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç olarak, kırsal alanlarda tarım-turizm çalışmalarına ve çalışma alanında lavanta tarımının sürdürülebilirliği bağlamında sonuç ve önerilere yer verilmiştir.