Environmental and business risk management perceptions and preferences: evidence from snowball sampling of Turkish avocado producers

The booming popularity of avocado production has given a poor environmental reputation in various parts of the world. The increase in avocado production has also been observed in Turkiye, where the area under cultivation and the production volume of avocados have increased recently. The main objective of the paper is to identify the perceptions of production, environmental and business risks, to study the risk management strategies that farmers consider the most important, and display the gross margin calculation of avocado production in Turkiye. Interviews were conducted with a selected sample of fifteen farms (cases) from the Mediterranean region of Turkiye to determine risk perceptions, risk management strategies and collect data for the rapid calculation of business results of avocado producers. Interview data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and avocado calculation using gross margin. The major production risks were strong winds, fungal attack, and sunburn, while robbery, changes in agricultural policies, and lack of information and uncertain supply for export were the major business risks. The major environmental risks are depletion of water sources. Farmers' most preferable risk management strategies for sustainable avocado production in Turkiye were windbreaks, shade nets and latex coatings, farm insurance, safety and security systems, and strengthening farmer cooperatives. The main environmental risk management strategies were water management, sub-tree irrigation, and the use of technical applications for irrigation. Avocado production in Turkiye is a promising market, but only under the condition of holistic value chain management and an enabling environment that includes national producer associations, sustainable certification systems, and government control of water use and deforestation.