The factors affecting psychological empowerment levels of entrepreneurs in agricultural holdings of Kirsehir province, Turkey

The agricultural sector takes an important part of the Turkish economy yet it cannot provide the desired contribution to the national economy due to its structural problems. Particularly the field of agricultural entrepreneurship is extremely affected by the cyclical fluctuations as well as by the lack of motivation of the individuals. This is among the significant reasons why the desired changes and improvements cannot be achieved. The motivations of both the employees and the entrepreneurs should be increased and they should have sufficient knowledge and experience to increase the contribution of agriculture to the national economy. The object of this study is to examine the relations between the psychological empowerment index (PEI) indicating the motivations of the owners in the agricultural holdings operating in the province of Kırşehir where dry farming system prevails and some demographical, agricultural, perceptual and behavioral variables. As a result of the survey study conducted with the owners of 265 agricultural holdings, a positive relation was found between PEI and age, land size and income while there was a negative relation between education level, risk behavior and information sources. In conclusion, it was found in the study, which was conducted in the field of agriculture for the first time in Turkey, that the structural problems in the agricultural segment caused some results in contrary to what was theoretically expected. The reasons can be listed to include low education level in the agricultural sector, lack of trust in information sources, financial uncertainties and reluctance in taking risks.