Evaluation of Agricultural Machinery Presence and Usage Activities in Konya Districts by Geographical Information Systems

Evaluation of Agricultural Machinery Presence and Usage Activities in Konya Districts by Geographical Information Systems

The negative effects of global climate change continue to be an element of pressure on agricultural production in Turkey as in many other countries. In a changing climate, the necessity of more efficient and sustainable agricultural production in the world is paramount to feed an increasing population. Currently agricultural machines, which minimally disturb the soil, produce less waste and consume less energy, are being used. The most important factor in this process is the change and transformation in agricultural machinery used in agricultural production. In the province of Konya, production is still carried out with traditional agricultural machinery. The size of the land and the density of agricultural production are not taken into consideration in the purchase and use of agricultural machinery. In this study, the impact area of the agricultural machines/machinery groups in the districts of Konya will be calculated, compared with the size of the cultivated areas and their efficiency will be evaluated. At the same time, by using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), the presence of agricultural machinery and the impact areas of machine groups in the districts of Konya will be mapped. This study, which is conducted for the first time in Konya province, will provide a guide in determining which agricultural machinery/machinery groups are overbought, used below capacity, or insufficient in Konya dis-tricts.While there is a surplus in almost every machine group, the largest number of machines is in the soil tillage and seed bed preparation machine group (64,733 units), the largest impact area belongs to the plantcare and fertilizer machine group (611,808,657 da year -1), and the most surplus is seen in the soil tillage and seed bed preparation machinery group (62,707 units in excess). In the case of harvesting machines, their number is found to be inadequate (335 units of shortage).