The Regional Level of Agricultural Mechanization: The Case of Çumra District of Konya Province

In our country, Konya ranks first in terms of agricultural land presence. However, in agricultural mechanization, both the machinery park and the presence of agricultural tractors are at the top levels. Çumra is one of the locomotive districts in agricultural mechanization as well as in agricultural production of Konya. Thanks to its developed irrigation infrastructure, speed of transition to modern agricultural techniques and the presence of agricultural industry, it is an exemplary agricultural region in Türkiye. In this study, the agricultural mechanization level of Çumra district of Konya province was examined. In the research, based on the 2023 and 2024 data of the Türkiye Statistical Institute (TUİK), the presence of agricultural machinery in the district and the effectiveness of this presence were analyzed through technical indicators. Within the scope of the study; In addition to tractors and combine harvesters, data on first and second class soil tillage machines, sowing-planting and care machines, plant protection equipment, machines used in mechanization in animal husbandry, harvesting-threshing machines, irrigation systems and other general agricultural mechanization elements were evaluated. The level of mechanization; Technical indicators such as the number of tractors per thousand hectares (tractors 1000 ha-1), the amount of land per tractor (in hectares) (ha tractor-1), power per unit area (kW ha-1) and average tractor power (kW) were determined by calculating. As a result of the calculations, it was determined that the number of tractors per 1000 hectares in Çumra district decreased from 61.42 to 60.72 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, while the amount of land per tractor increased from 16.28 hectares to 16.47 hectares. The power per tractor was calculated as 3.14 kW ha-1 in 2023 and 3.11 kW ha-1 in 2024. The average tractor power was determined as 51.15 kW in 2023 and 51.33 kW in 2024. When examined in agricultural mechanization level in machinery groups, it was determined that irrigation systems had the highest increase with 2.59% between 2023-2024, and machinery used in livestock farming had the highest decrease with 1.03%.