International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM) ||Volume||5||Issue||06||Pages||5354-5262||2017|| Website:www.ijsrm.in ISSN (e): 2321-3418 Index Copernicus value (2015): 57.47 DOI: 10.18535/ijsrm/v5i6.01 Ayse Gul Tuncer, IJSRM Volume 5 Issue 06 June 2017 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 5354 Comparison of Conventional and Organic Farmers on Their Socioeconomic Characteristics and Communication Behaviors Ayse Gul Tuncer , Ismet Boz Department of Agricultural Economics, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey Correspondence : Ismet Boz, PhD Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics Samsun Turkey Email: ismetboz@yahoo.com Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to compare the conventional and organic hazelnut producers for their socioeconomic characteristics, communication behavior, and their mutual relationships with other people and organizations. Two stratified samples of 56 conventional and 42 organic hazelnut farmers from Terme district of Samsun Province were recruited as the study participants. The results showed that the organic farmers have a greater tendency to become the members offarmers’ organizations such as cooperatives and unions, carry social security mostly given to government workers and medium level state officers, and use fewer loans for the farming investments as compared to the conventional farmers. In addition, the organic farmers were more aware of the Internet and they participated in different events such as conferences, congresses, and workshops. The study concludes that in order to shorten the adoption process, farmers’ organization must be contacted first and awareness raising campaigns and adoption programs must be designed accordingly. Keywords: Organic Farming, Organic Hazelnut, Diffusion and Adoption, Extension Education, Farmers' associations Introduction: Turkey is a major hazelnut producer country in the world. The area under hazelnut cultivation in Turkey is 740.141 hectares, which is 77% of thetotal hazelnut cultivation area in the world. The average hazelnut production in Turkey was 525 thousand tons in 2009–2014 period, which was approximately 68% of total globalhazelnut production. In the same period,Turkey’s total export of hazelnuts was505 thousand tons, which is72.2% of total globalexports. The main hazelnuts importing countries are Italy, German, France, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, China, Poland, Canada, Vietnam, Spain, and Canada (Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, 2016). Although Italy, Spain, the United States, Georgia, and Azerbaijan seem to be the competitorsofTurkey as producers, their total area under hazelnut production, total yield,and exports are far less than Turkey. Hazelnut cultivation has many benefits for producers and consumers. Although the majority of production isconsumed directly, the remaining is used for hazelnut butter, hazelnut oil, cakes, and chocolate industry. Hazelnut also has many byproducts. The leaves and shells can be used for making compost,which can be used in the farm itself. In agroindustry,poorquality hazelnuts can be used as ingredients for different foods and animal fodder. The wood part is used for furniture, home equipment, and basket making. Branches and harder shells can be used for heating purposes, which makes possible for rural families to use their own fuel during the winter seasons. Owing to the importance and benefits of hazelnuts for human nutrition, its demand in thechocolate industry has considerably increased in recent years;thus many countries, such as Chile, China, Argentina, Australia,