Small ruminant production in Turkey: highlighting in goat production.

This paper deals with the effects of structural, governmental and socio-economic conditions linked to small ruminant production, especially goat production. The number of small ruminants in Turkey fell from almost 51,530 in 1990, to 31,761 in 2007. In 1990, the number of small ruminants started to decrease due to structural, genetic and economic reasons such as a lack of state support policies, high costs of inputs, poor performance of local breeds, socio-economic conditions, and migration. In Turkey, the socio-economic and geographical structure make small ruminant production an important profession; it is also a significant source of income in rural regions. 35% of red meat and 12% of milk production is obtained from small ruminants. Although, Turkey has the highest goat population among its border and EU countries, ranks low with milk production. Reasons for the present situation are well evaluated; changes and tendencies in sheep and goat production as well as milk and meat production that are examined and associated with the population of Turkey are widely discussed. In addition, in order to improve the present situation, some technical and structural suggestions are mentioned.