Citation: Ta¸ scıo ˘ glu, Y.; Gül, M.; Akpınar, M.G.; Karlı, B.; Kadako˘ glu, B.; ¸ Sirikçi, B.S.; Acar, M.; Yılmaz, H. Optimum Support Policy Component for the Development of Agricultural Production: Potato Producer. Agriculture 2023, 13, 952. https://doi.org/10.3390/ agriculture13050952 Academic Editor: Efstratios Loizou Received: 6 March 2023 Revised: 17 April 2023 Accepted: 21 April 2023 Published: 26 April 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). agriculture Article Optimum Support Policy Component for the Development of Agricultural Production: Potato Producer Yavuz Ta¸ scıo ˘ glu 1 , Mevlüt Gül 2 , Metin Göksel Akpınar 1, * , Bahri Karlı 2 , Bekta¸ s Kadako ˘ glu 2 , Bekir Sıtkı ¸ Sirikçi 3 , Musa Acar 4 and Hilal Yılmaz 5 1 Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics, Akdeniz University, 07059 Antalya, Turkey 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32200 Isparta, Turkey 3 Yozgat Vocational Schools, Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Yozgat Bozok University, 66100 Yozgat, Turkey 4 Eskil Vocational School, Aksaray University, 68800 Aksaray, Turkey 5 Eastern Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute Directorate, 01375 Adana, Turkey * Correspondence: mgoksel@akdeniz.edu.tr Abstract: The present study aimed to determine the optimum policy component in an example of potato cultivation development based on the principle of the efficient use of scarce resources and maximizing the benefit of the producer. Agricultural support policies are commonly implemented by adopting a top-down approach. Regarding benefit maximization at the target group level, policies for agricultural products should be determined with a bottom-up approach. In this manner, in the present study, potato producers were determined to be the target group. Therefore, this study investigated the policy component that provides the highest benefit in line with the demands, expectations, and tendencies of the target group. The micro-data obtained from the potato-growing enterprises operating in provinces where potato cultivation was intensively carried out within the scope of Turkey constituted the research data. A face-to-face survey technique was used as the method for collecting the producer data. Simple descriptive statistics and one of the multivariate analysis techniques, conjoint analysis, were applied in the analysis and evaluation of the data. The optimum policy component setup was determined to be “Price and Payment Support: Above Market Price and 2 months term, Support Area and Amount: to production, 25.47 USD/da (23.04 EUR/da), time of announcement for the supports: pre-planting, and producer’s declaration: I do (I declare)” for the potato product. Accordingly, the necessity of a bottom-up approach in the planning and implementation of an agricultural support policy in Turkey is explained based on the results obtained. Therefore, it is considered necessary and beneficial to measure the level of producer benefits on the focus of applications that encourage potato production. Keywords: agriculture; potato; producer; support policy; conjoint analysis 1. Introduction Adequate and balanced nutrition is one of the most important worldwide issues. Plant-based products are the most used product group in human nutrition. Potato, on the other hand, is in the starch-sugar plants group among industrial plants. Potato has tuberous roots and has an important place in terms of both production and consumption. In terms of nutrition, potatoes meet the basic food needs of individuals as an important energy source, especially in underdeveloped countries. It is an annual crop plant and has advantages in terms of cultivation. It can be grown in almost every part of the world and used in various ways as an important food source thanks to its features, such as obtaining a higher yield per unit area, a high nutritional value, being used in various fields, and being able to quickly adapt to different ecologies. It is one of the most important agricultural Agriculture 2023, 13, 952. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13050952 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture