Socioeconomic Evaluation of Einkorn Wheat Production

ABSTRACT

Today, economic shocks, negative effects of climate change, and the crises that directly affect human health, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have shown that food security is always important for every country, regardless of its development status. With the introduction of the concept of healthy food along with adequate food, people have begun to change the criteria they look for when they eat. The demand for wheat-related products, which constitute the raw material of one of the most basic nutrients for human beings, has changed within this structure. It can be said that einkorn, emmer, and spelt wheats, which are known as the ancestors of wheat, come to the fore more today, especially when the demand for the products produced from wheat landraces is getting to increase. The fact that the products obtained from these wheats, which are important in terms of genetic resources, are healthier and more nutritious than the products obtained from commercial wheats is one of the main reasons for this interest. There are important initiatives in the production and commercialization of hulled wheat-based products in many countries in the world. It is seen that the products obtained from emmer and einkorn wheats are offered to the market, especially in Europe, as well as in countries such as Turkiye and the production is supported by the states, NGOs, and private sector. The products obtained from this type of wheats are finding more and more place day by day in different systems such as geographical indication and organic agriculture. For this reason, wheat landraces are of great importance as a genetic resource, and their sociological and economic aspects need to be evaluated in their conservation and sustainable use. In this study, the socioeconomic evaluation of einkorn wheat has been done and the results of a case study on Iza wheat, an einkorn wheat from Turkiye, have been presented. As a result of the study, it has been shown that economic sustainability is important in the protection and sustainability of this type of wheat, and it needs start-up support at the starting point. When these are provided, it has been revealed that the production of such wheat can become widespread both in organic agriculture and in the geographical indication system, and this type of wheat can be used as a development tool in local economic development by transforming it into value-added products. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.