Sunn pest control policies and effect of sunn pest damage on wheat quality and price in Turkey

Wheat is a very strategic crop for Turkey as well as many other countries. Sunn pest is one of the most important pests of cereals particularly for wheat and barley in Turkey. Turkish governments have conducted sunn pest management (SPM) program, mainly based on chemical control since 1927. Neither farmers nor technical consultants have been satisfied with the SPM program conducted by the government. Therefore, the government purpose is to transfer SPM program to the farmers by providing technical information and equipments gradually. In this paper, effect of sunn pest damage on wheat price in Turkey is analyzed by using hedonic price function. The results show that sunn pest damage is the most effective factor and causes a significant decrease in wheat prices. © Springer 2006.