This article was checked by ithenticate. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SERVICES FROM THE USER'S PERSPECTIVE: TARBIL

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1 Information Technologies & Applied Sciences, p DOI Number: ISSN: , ANKARA-TURKEY Research Article / Araştırma Makalesi Article Info/Makale Bilgisi Received/Geliş: Mart 2018 Accepted/Kabul: Haziran 2018 Referees/Hakemler: Doç. Dr. Tolga TİPİ Doç. Dr. Şule TURHAN This article was checked by ithenticate. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SERVICES FROM THE USER'S PERSPECTIVE: TARBIL İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ * - Fikret BAYAR ** ABSTRACT Knowledge has been important to people throughout history. Having knowledge also brings economic power, and therefore, human beings have developed various methods to obtain knowledge since its existence. Technological advancements have helped to embrace record and evaluate information as well as storing and sharing of it. Hence, the concept of information management has gained importance today. Human beings have been engaged in agriculture since ancient times and knowledge in the agricultural sector is vital to human life. To have knowledge of uncertainties that affect agriculture and that are not always known for certain reasons (e.g. climate, disease and productivity) is of great importance for those who deal with the agricultural sector. For this reason, it is important to obtain the correct information, to integrate the obtained data into agriculture and to ensure its continuity, to meet the country's economy and increasing human needs. The aim of this study is to identify and highlight the importance of agricultural information system which gathers the data of many factors such as climate, diseases, soil structure and productivity that affect agriculture under one roof and aims to guide agriculture by taking advantage of these data. STRUCTURED ABSTRACT Knowledge has been important to people throughout history. Having knowledge also brings economic power, and therefore, human beings have developed various methods to obtain knowledge since its existence. Technological advancements have helped to embrace record * Dr. Öğr.Üyesi, Bursa Uludag Unıversıty Faculty of Agrıculture, El-mek: bulent@uludag.edu.tr ** Ziraat Mühendisi, Nilüfer İlçe Gıda Tarım ve Hayvancılık Müdürlüğü, El-mek: fikretbayarsamsun@gmail.com

2 24 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR and evaluate information as well as storing and sharing of it. Hence, the concept of information management has gained importance today. Human beings have been engaged in agriculture since ancient times and knowledge in the agricultural sector is vital to human life. To have knowledge of uncertainties that affect agriculture and that are not always known for certain reasons (e.g. climate, disease and productivity) is of great importance for those who deal with the agricultural sector. For this reason, it is important to obtain the correct information, to integrate the obtained data into agriculture and to ensure its continuity, to meet the country's economy and increasing human needs. The aim of this study is to identify and highlight the importance of agricultural information system which gathers the data of many factors such as climate, diseases, soil structure and productivity that affect agriculture under one roof and aims to guide agriculture by taking advantage of these data. There is knowledge in every stage of our lives; in science, in music, in sports, in everything one can think of. How does it affect human life to be able to obtain and use information that is integrated with so much life? Mankind's quest for knowledge has always continued throughout history (wheel in ancient times, gunpowder in medieval times, cancer in the near future). The search for information shows continuity, only shape of information has changed in line with the necessities of the time Today, every region of the world, every area of life has been digitized (Sakallı and Bahadıroğlu, 2018). Such a rapid change has also changed the way individuals do daily work (Keleş, 2018). In recent years, it has been easier to reach information with developing technology, communication between individuals has accelerated and competition has increased in all areas. This is why the concept of information management has become a Science and has been developed to obtain and use information in the right way has gained importance in recent years. The concept of information management has therefore become a science and has gained importance in recent years, which has been developed to obtain and use information in the right way. This research aims to understand and analyse the extent which agricultural engineers are familiar with use of internet and information technology systems. The research conducted in Bursa Provincial Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The primary data obtained from the questionnaires. All 115 agricultural engineers currently working in the Directorate were personally invited to fill out the questionnaire. The questions answered by participants were designed to elicit: Participants familiarity with use of internet. Participants' information acquisition habits. How familiar are the participants with information management systems How familiar are the participants with Tarbil system This survey has showed that despite all the benefits Tarbil offers, they system yet has not been understood, accepted and has a widespread

3 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 25 use. It may be argued that the system is rather new and there is a scope for development. In the near future system will be accepted and used by a wider audience including agricultural engineers and the benefits mentioned above will soon show its fruits. Tarbil may seem to aim farmers predominantly because they are one ones who actually produce who are in the field. Surely Tarbil will be beneficial to them but the role and importance of agricultural engineers will not diminish with Tarbil. Rather opposite, Tarbil will also bring rich resources to help farmers not only survive day to day farming activities but also help them for long term plan, improvement, investment and other opportunities time may bring. Therefore Tarbil is not a threat to agricultural engineers or a tool for a government to make more effective legislations to invaluable tool for them to take better part in such opportunities. It is now very easy to access and share information with developing technology. Owing to information management, it is possible to use resources effectively and make accurate planning. Along with the effective use of limited resources in the face of increasing human population, both resource protections can be provided and yield increase can be achieved. Best part of our existing water resources are used for irrigation farmlands. By help of TARBİL thanks, the plant's water demand is clearly determined and it is possible to minimize water consumption. Thus, both our resources will be protected and economic benefits will be provided. The quantity of crops produced will be kept under control and supply will be able to maintain the equilibrium of demand. Every year, majority of farmers make traditional farming; do their own planning, instead of following regional or national agricultural plans or market requirements and consequently grow wrong crops. As a result, they are unable to find the price they deserve in the market by producing poor quality, inadequate or excessive yields, inadequate or excessive variety of crops. Consequently, both the farmer s labour and the country s valuable resources are wasted. TARBİL is the information management system of agriculture. Tarbil will be leading the country's economy by preventing such negative effects. For this reason, the benefits of Information Management in agricultural sectors and in other sectors cannot be denied. It is necessary to help the more efficient use of the resources of Turkey by ensuring the adoption and development of the concept of Information Management in every field. Keywords: Knowledge, Information Management, Agriculture, Agricultural monitoring and information systems, Tarbil. KULLANICILAR AÇISINDAN BİLGİ YÖNETİM SİSTEMLERİ: TARBİL ÖRNEĞİ ÖZET Bilgi tarih boyunca insanlar için önemli olmuştur. Bilgiye sahip olmak ekonomik olarak gücü de beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu nedenle insanoğlu tarih boyunca bilgiyi elde etmek için çeşitli yöntemler geliştirmiştir. Son yıllarda teknolojinin de gelişimi ile birlikte bilginin elde

4 26 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR edilmesi, kayıt altına alınması, değerlendirilmesi ve depolanması kolaylaşmış olup, günümüz de bilgi yönetimi daha çok önem kazanmıştır. Tarım sektöründeki bilgi, insan hayatında yaşamsal bir öneme sahiptir. İnsanoğlu çok eski çağlardan itibaren tarımla uğraşmıştır. Tarımı etkileyen ve her zaman kesin olarak bilinemeyen, tekbir nedene bağlı olmayan belirsizlikler (örneğin; iklim, hastalılar ve verimlilik) hakkında bilgi sahibi olabilmek, tarım sektörü ile uğraşanlar için büyük öneme sahiptir. Bu nedenle doğru bilgiyi elde etmek, elde edilen verileri tarıma entegre etmek ve sürekliliğini sağlamak, ülke ekonomisi ve artan insan ihtiyaçlarının karşılanması için önem arz etmektedir. Bu çalışmada amaç; tarımı etkileyen iklim, hastalıklar, toprak yapısı ve verimlilik gibi birçok etkenin verilerini tek bir çatı altında toplayan ve bu verilerden yararlanarak tarıma yön vermeyi hedefleyen tarım bilgi sistemini tanımak ve önemi vurgulamak olacaktır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Bilgi, Bilgi Yönetimi, Tarım, Tarımsal izleme ve bilgi sistemi, Tarbil, Introduction There is knowledge in every stage of our lives; in science, in music, in sports, in everything one can think of. How does it affect human life to be able to obtain and use information that is integrated with so much life? Mankind's quest for knowledge has always continued throughout history (wheel in ancient times, gunpowder in medieval times, cancer in the near future). The search for information shows continuity, only shape of information has changed in line with the necessities of the time Today, every region of the world, every area of life has been digitized (Sakallı and Bahadıroğlu, 2018). Such a rapid change has also changed the way individuals do daily work (Keleş, 2018). In recent years, it has been easier to reach information with developing technology, communication between individuals has accelerated and competition has increased in all areas. This is why the concept of information management has become a Science and has been developed to obtain and use information in the right way has gained importance in recent years. The concept of information management has therefore become a science and has gained importance in recent years, which has been developed to obtain and use information in the right way. Following part of this paper will attempt to understand this approach and how it impacts agriculture. Materials and Methods This research aims to understand and analyse the extent which agricultural engineers are familiar with use of internet and information technology systems. The research conducted in Bursa Provincial Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The primary data obtained from the questionnaires. All 115 agricultural engineers currently working in the Directorate were personally invited to fill out the questionnaire. The questions answered by participants were designed to elicit: Participants familiarity with use of internet. Participants' information acquisition habits. How familiar are the participants with information management systems

5 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 27 How familiar are the participants with Tarbil system. Knowledge, Data and Information To understand the knowledge, it is necessary to understand data and information that form the knowledge. Data can be expressed as raw facts obtained from transactions. There are no judgments or comments in data. The data is transformed into meaningful facts and is called information. Data can be expressed as input of information (Davenport and Prusak, 2001). In the transformation of data into information, values and judgments of people, life-long learning experiences and gains, interaction between people and feelings of belief influence the way information is produced (Barutçugil, 2002). Knowledge is very important for both individuals and organizations. While knowledge is used for individuals to be successful in life and to find solutions to problems encountered, organizations use knowledge to understand their customers, competitors and employees. They use the knowledge they obtain in the processes of competition, productivity, innovation, creativity and strategy. Knowledge for organizations is a tool for planning future strategies, communicating with employees, customers and other organizations, making the right decision, resolving existing problems and preventing future problems (Anameric, 2005). It is very important that the data obtained is evaluated as a whole and used in accordance with its purpose. It is important for organizations to collect, accurately classify and store the data needed for the organization without complicating, and transform it into information with experience. Information technologies are modern tools that improve work efficiency and quality by completing tasks in a shorter time (Özgenel, Baydar and Yılmaz, 2018). Information is just standing around somewhere; knowing how to reach information and using it in accordance with its purpose is very important for information management. Alvin Toffler stated that people who will be called ignorant in the future are not literate but those who do not know how to access information (Tonta, 2001) We live in the Information Age, and "information" is increasing at a rapid pace and is now very easy to reach. However, as a result of information sharing, which is easier with advanced technology, information pollution has also increased. The important thing is to be able to extract useful information from this pollution and use it correctly. Time spent getting information can be vital to organizations. For example, in today's technology, a car is produced every minute from the production band in an automobile factory. Any mistake that can be made while production is so fast, information that cannot be included in the process on time, communication breakages between employees can cause major harm to businesses. In order to prevent such situations, the vital role of information ought to be grasped and information management tools well adopted by organizations. There are two basic kinds of knowledge: Explicit and Tacit. The explicit knowledge is what man knows. Knowledge that can be expressed in words, transformed into formulas, shapes or figures is known to everyone (Chua, 2002). Accounting and computer records or statement such: Uludag Bursa province can be given an example of explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is easy to share and transfer to the future. Knowledge that exists in the minds of people, but is often not expressed in words is called tacit knowledge (Dixon, 2000). It is difficult to store tacit knowledge and transfer it to the future. It is tacit knowledge that emerges as a result of the merging of clear information, that is, information known by everyone, with the experience of individuals. It is difficult to describe how music plays, such as swimming or cycling, and these are examples of tacit knowledge.

6 28 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR One of the most important types of knowledge is the knowledge that employees have, which is tacit knowledge. It is very important to turn the tacit knowledge that employees have for organizations into explicit knowledge that is available to everyone, so organizations strive to improve and transform the knowledge of employees into shared knowledge. Organizations need to use these two types of knowledge to be lucrative and lasting. It is vital to tailor knowledge for the organization needs, develop and maintain. Sustaining the flow of knowledge is important in implementing information management systems (Barutçugil, 2002). Although there are various definitions of Information Management, majority of them emphasizes that information management is producing, obtaining, sharing, using and managing information. Information management is the process of creating new information, which is the result of the combination of the various types of information in the organizations around a common goal that enables the competitive superiority to emerge (Zaim, 2005). The aim of the information management concept is to produce new information within the organization, to have the organizational information available at all times in the decision-making phase and to facilitate decision making. Many important factors such as transfer of nonorganizational information into the organization, processing and storing, making the in-house knowledge more valuable by blending with the organizational culture, ensuring the continuous flow of information within the organization and ensuring that it is always accessible are among the aims of information management (Çapar, 2003). Information Management and Technology Technological developments, increased completion, broadened product varieties; expansion of markets' traditional boundaries so forth imposes challenges to organisations and their competitive capabilities. Organizations that can follow the markets and make realistic analyses with accurate information can cope with this tight competition and maintain their continuity. Organizations that have adopted a correct knowledge management strategy that can use information and technology correctly will always be successful (Nonaka, 1999). It has been observed that organizations, who have grasped the importance of Information Management, make huge profits by making small touches on organizational functioning. Effective information management applications help businesses save huge amounts of money. The value of effective knowledge management emerges on examining some of the figures:. For example, the General Electric Company saved $5 billion in stationery annually by extranething the purchasing department, and the Oracle made a profit of$ 1 billion in the first quarter of 2000 by adapting the business model to the internet. As these examples show, information management is very important for organizations. Echoing the success of the given examples possible only by accessing the right information, using in an appropriate way, adjusting and integrating with the organisational culture and keeping it aliveat all times (Atlı, 2014 ). Rapid and extensive advances in technology, particularly in the area of communications, have had a considerable impact on the way organizations operate and opened doors to access vast amounts of information. Like many other countries, technology has become easily accessible in Turkey. However, problems in using the information properly and incorporating it into everyday life remain to be a seen. Despite an increase in the literacy rate, the number of people who use technology, and their ability to benefit from information in the electronic environment, namely information literacy, has not increased. Still, many organisations especially small traditional ones keep books manually and are not able to use software programs that perform vital financial analyses such as costbenefit analysis for the firm. Majority of the firms operating in the agricultural sector are still small traditional firms and the data the collect and the records they keep are insufficient. Farmers are not accustomed to keep records of their activities, this makes it extremely difficult to generate data and

7 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 29 make meaningful information and create agricultural knowledge beneficial to them. With the development of technology in Turkey, reaching information has become very easy. However, there are problems with the correct use of information and the inclusion of it into life. Although the literacy rate in our country has increased the number of people who use technology, the ability to use information in the electronic environment, namely information literacy, has not improved. Currently, accounting records are kept in books rather than computers in many places and cost analysis systems are not employed. Most of the organizations operating in the agricultural sector are still small businesses and the records kept are insufficient. Since the habit of keeping records is not fully developed sufficient data cannot be obtained and a systematic information management cannot be implemented. Information Management System in Agriculture Agriculture and livestock have an important place in human life. Due to the limited resources in the face of increasing human population, decreasing agricultural lands, changing climate conditions, it has become necessary to obtain maximum yield from the unit area in the agricultural sector. In order to achieve maximum outcome from existing resources, it is necessary to obtain the correct information and use this information on-site. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Istanbul Technical University, Ministry of Development, Turkish Statistical Institute and General Directorate of Meteorology have jointly developed Tarbil (agricultural monitoring and Information System). It would not be wrong to use the word Tarbil for agricultural information management. TARBİL (Agriculture Monitoring and Information System) The Agricultural Monitoring and Information System (TARBİL) is developed to create agricultural maps of the country to measure actual crop yield by commodity and forecast the upcoming season s harvest. TARBİL aims to increase the effectiveness of Turkish agriculture by providing free, relevant, searchable and up-to-date agro-information. TARBİL essentially provides information on cropping systems and planning, weather forecasting, post-harvest technology, input prices, availability, farm business information and crop insurance. TARBIL is a highly technological and comprehensive agricultural monitoring system fusing multi-temporal in-situ data from 44,000 sensors across Turkey with SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 satellite images. The project has been initiated in 2011 and provides indices of villages and districts perform need analyses and purpose-driven support systems are adopted. The system is also integrated with the Farmer Registration System. It would not be misleading to address Tarbil as the ''agricultural knowledge management system.'' Because it consists of a vast network of information that collects small data in the agricultural sector in a pool, transforms it into meaningful information, shares it with farmers who are end users, and at the same time directs Turkish Agricultural Policy. Tarbil is a living system and always needs up-to-date data. The most important factor affecting agriculture is the climate, of course. Climate factors such as temperature, wind and precipitation can be estimated accurately locally and instantaneously with the technology developed in recent years. Based on this data, it is possible to prevent possible natural disasters and make plans for the following years. In the Tarbil system, there are various data types and many purposes of this data. Below these menus are explained very briefly. Tarbil website is accessible to everyone; farmers, researcher who needs to gain agricultural information. Access is free but registration is required to access most of the site. It also has an application that can be downloaded to laptops and mobile phones. Upon logging in to the website ( the menus shown in the picture above are. Each of these menus contains submenus

8 30 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR and contains a wide variety of data. However, it should be noted that some of the submenus are still being developed due to lack of relevant data. Of course one of the main reasons for this is to farmers hesitance to keep records of their farming activities. Drought Monitoring: This menu contains data on the precipitation, humidity, temperature and sun time of all provinces and counties between 2013 and 2017, calculated in 4 different methods. Agricultural Warning: This menu contains the dates in which various agricultural pests can pose a risk of disease in the province. Data monitoring: This menu includes the dates of the phenological stages of wheat, barley, corn, rice, cotton, sunflower products in Turkey such as seeding, exit, tillering, jointing, boot, heading, ripening, flowering and harvesting. In addition, there are maps showing the cultivation areas of these products and reports showing the yield of dry and watery products are presented. Yield Forecast: This menu has the same content as the data monitoring menu and the yield prediction and the yield monitoring menus are associated with each other. Station In this menu, the location of the existing agricultural-meteorological-phenological stations on the map of Turkey is marked and when the station icon is clicked, various information including temperature, humidity, wind speed, air pressure, soil temperature, altitude, 24 hour precipitation rate and satellite coordinates can be accessed. Currently, 441 stations are available and the number of stations is increasing day by day. Satellite Monitoring: In this menu, 24,252 satellite images of terabytes obtained from 6 different satellites in total from 2012 to The satellite picture of the location of any agricultural land on the map selected by the user is presented to the user for a certain fee if the request sent to the satellite image processing and demand centre. Agricultural Observations: In this menu, data on agricultural temperature and humidity values, solar radiation level, leaf wetness index and air pressure are displayed on the map of Turkey. Temperature Map: As of , this menu presents the temperature values visually that occur every 30 minutes on the map. Agromatic: This menu serves as a kind of calculator. Farmers can choose from wheat, barley, lentil, corn and cotton, and once the required set of data is entered, system automatically calculates the harvest date, number of days remaining for harvest and harvest efficiency. Harvester: This menu has very comprehensive information; here each harvester has its own code and the harvesters registered to the system can be viewed instantly from the system. Up to date information such harvester' brand and model, vehicle identification number, license plate, licence holder, harvester drive, location, number of hours worked, servicing company, when was the last time services, total harvest quantity, can be queried by entering either personal ID or harvest number. Phenological Stages: This menu contains planting, emergence, foliation, cob formation, corn tassel emergence, blossoming, ripening and harvest data of wheat, barley, lentils, cotton, corn, sunflower and cotton. Farmers can access this information on a tabular format by choosing any region on the map of Turkey. TARBİL Forum: This is a forum page on the menu where problems and requests are expressed regarding the use of Tarbil Publications and announcements: There are various announcements and news published in the press about the development of the Tarbil project.

9 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 31 About us: In this menu, users can access information about how the TARBİL project works its aims objectives, project partners and the historical development of the project. Tarbil and its Benefits to Farmers The purpose of Tarbil project and the intended benefits of using Tarbil for farmers can be summarized as follow: Tarbil data will enable farmers to better plan and choose the crops that are best suited for growing by analyzing the soil and climate characteristics of their land and recording to the system in advance. Data about on the characteristics of soil, slope, altitude, usage, climate information, seed-pesticide and fertilizer requirements, soil analysis results, market distance, condition of agricultural machinery, their cost and efficiency and so forth will be recorded with the aid of Tarbil, eventually this data will be converted into knowledge and will allow farmers to made necessary interventions at the right time consequently gain maximum yield from the farmland. Tarbil will provide tremendous convenience to farmers to determine the critical dates for agriculture such as sowing growing harvesting irrigation fertilization accurately. Data received from agricultural-meteorological-phenological stations will help to trace and assess the occurrence of climate change instantaneous, monthly and annually therefore will help to be prepared and prevent such risks. Farmers will be encouraged to produce crops suitable for climatic conditions and soil structure of their land; this will enable them to receive the appropriate grant for appropriate crop as well. Likewise, public and private organizations that provide these grants will be able to provide adequate funds to farmers. Because they will be confident that the claim farmers present bases timely and relevant data. Thus, there will be no loss of funds and consequently more farmers will benefit from these supports. Tarbil will increase farmers prosperity by selling their products at a better price. It will keep the pulse of the market, provide supply-demand balance and aid farmers to produce the right products for the right markets. Considering the problems that climate change and possible diseases may cause are anticipated and necessary precautions taken, the total amount of compensation to be paid by the insurance companies after such occurrences will reduce. As a result, farmers insurance acquisition cost and monthly payments will go down and more farmers will be able to insure their crops. Banks and other financial institutions will grant credits on the basis of real and timely information that farmers prove, hence, the cost of credit and interest rates will reduce, credit terms will improve as a result of reduced credit risk. Ministry of Agriculture, Turkey Union of Chambers of Agriculture (TZOB), other chambers of agriculture, agricultural credit cooperatives, agricultural insurance providers, marketplaces, non-governmental organisations, Land Registry and Cadastre directorates, such as many institutions will make more effective legislations, will develop their strategic plans in accordance with the true needs of the farmers and the country and improve the quality of their services by using Tarbil data. Tarbil will help to identify the origin of the crop, calculate the sum of existing agricultural land, crop efficiency ratio, total yield, fertilizer and pesticide used. Thus, it will be

10 32 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR possible to trace each crop through the stages of planting, processing, distribution and handling from farm to the consumers home. Tarbil data is a valuable source of information for researchers and research institutes and will provide a very important base for the development of agriculture-related patents, solving problems and making innovations in the field of Agriculture. Tarbil will increase farmers prosperity by selling their products at a better price. It will keep the pulse of the market, provide supply-demand balance, produce the right products for the right markets. Tarbil aims shape the country's agriculture by blending technology and knowledge. With the increased collective welfare of farmers, the use of modern technologies and knowledge wealth creation in agriculture will increase therefore agriculture in the country will advance further. Research Findings and Discussion The data obtained from the questionnaire is analysed by using SPPS 20 programme. Table 1 shows that 40.6% of the participants were female and 60% were male. A significant proportion of participants (54.9%) were between the ages of Those between years of age are 21.7%, years and years of age are respectively 10.4% and 13%.. It appears to be that a very large proportion of participants (89.6%) were over 35 years old. This is challenge for any ICT system to get a used friendly outlook and gain high user profile. The highest input was achieved by the Plant Production and Protection Department (37.4%). It is followed by Food and Animal Breeding (19.2%) and Coordination and Statistics (14.8%) and Agricultural Infrastructure (13.9%) departments respectively. The minimum attendance was at Land Acquisition (1.7%) and Animal Health and Breeding 8% 2.6%. These figures also indicate not only the participants of the survey but the total numbers of engineers employed in the mentioned departments in the Directorate. When participants were asked the length of their Internet usage (Table 2), a large majority (76.5%) of the participants stated that they used the internet for 1-2 hours a day. The ratio of the internet users who use less than 1 hour per day (10.4%) and who use 2-4 hours per day (9.6%) are close to each other. Only a very small minority of 3.5% is using the internet for 4-6 hours. Age Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Participants Frequency Percentage Sex Male Female Departments Land acquisition 2 1,7 Plant production and protection Food and animal feed Animal health and breeding Cooperatives and Rural Development Coordination and statistics Agricultural Infrastructure Total

11 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 33 On examining the reasons for using the internet, 63.7% of engineers use the Internet for networking purposes such as checking and replying their s, using Linked in and communicating with their colleagues using other means of social media. Majority of participants internet use of 1-2 hours a day is in line with this finding. Participation rate of Internet users to read current news and follow agenda came second with 15.7%. Disappointing proportion of respondents, that is only 4.4%, uses internet to search for information. Considering 16.5% shops on the internet for their personal needs this point raises serious questions worth considering. Day/internet (hr) Reason for using internet Table 2:Internet Usage of the Participants Frequency Percentage Less than one hour , Total Newspaper / magazine Networking Shopping Search for information 5 4,4 Total Searching for information on the Internet has become widely used around the world amongst young and old people and by almost every profession and area of interest. Agricultural engineers should not be expected to be different from those. Despite the fact that very low number of participants use internet for information search, current research finding support this common behaviour. 54,9% of the participants search information on the Internet while 21,7% follows printed newspapers. Interestingly engineers rely on human induced information more than TV/radio (Table 3). This also supports the previous finding that engineers use internet for networking purposes. In addition, majority of them being 35 and above age explains why collogues opinion more important. Table 3. Information Sources Frequency Percentage Television/Radio Newspapers İnternet/online sources People When asked whether or not agricultural engineers were aware of the Tarbil website, only around half confirmed that they were aware of the system and used it occasionally. This is fairly concerning since Tarbil is an essential information source for them. Not only it is important to work effectively and give coherent advice also important for their professional development. Alarmingly, 1 in 5 engineers stated that they have heard about it but never considered using it. %10 of the responded engineers are not even knowledgeable about Tarbil (Table 4), The reasons for this outcome need further investigation. Do engineers not trust Tarbil? Do they see it as a threat to their occupation? Are they too traditional and rely on traditional resources only? Do they find the system too complicated to use? Is there any training needs? Is there any

12 34 İ. Bülent GÜRBÜZ - Fikret BAYAR requirement to employ briefing sessions to inform and encourage Tarbil and benefits of using Tarbil across the Directorate? Following these considerations, 56 participants who indicated that they were aware of Tarbil were asked to whom Tarbil would be most beneficial. Table 5 clearly shows that only about half of the respondents believe that Tarbil will be beneficial for themselves, their colleagues and technicians. This finding may be interpreted that this as an indication that agricultural engineers approach Tarbil with a caution and they do believe that the information provided by the system is threat to their expertise. Table 4 Agricultural Engineers Knowledge About Tarbil Frequency Percentage I've never heard of it I've heard of it, but I've never used it I've heard, and I use it from time to time It may be that they have not really explored Tarbil and they are not confident with its content and coverage. 21,7% of the participants indicted that Tarbil would help policy makers to promote more appropriate and acceptable rules and regulations. Referring to the arguments that there are various laws and regulation often overlaps ad clashes to each other, engineers believe that Tarbil will help policy makers to streamline current complexity eventually more effective regulations will come into practice. Interestingly, 13% agrees that Tarbil will provide timely, reliable and rich data for future research for the Universities and relevant research institutions. Considering that one of the most problematic areas in the sector is to obtain such data by any whom needs them. This finding confirms this desire. Finally another very discerning finding that engineers do not believe Tarbil is information system for farmers. Only 10, 4% of the participants agree that this system is beneficial to farmers themselves. Majority of farmers in the country are smallhold farmers with lower educational levels. Young, educated people leave for large cities, farming population tend to be older either. Agricultural engineers surveyed in the Directorate indicated higher age and lower internet usage habits, especially when searching for information, despite the fact their high educational levels. This finding may indicate that if engineers cannot make the best of Tarbil, they do not really believe that farmers may be able to use and understand the system and make beneficial to themselves. Table 5 Agricultural Engineers Opinion about Tarbil s Function Frequency Percentage Farmer s Information System Policy makers (legislators) information system Info system for Agricultural Engineers/technicians Info system for Institutes /Universities/Research Centre This survey has showed that despite all the benefits Tarbil offers, they system yet has not been understood, accepted and has a widespread use. It may be argued that the system is rather new and there is a scope for development. In the near future system will be accepted and used by a wider audience including agricultural engineers and the benefits mentioned above will soon show its fruits. Tarbil may seem to aim farmers predominantly because they are one ones who actually produce who

13 Information Management System Services from the User's Perspective: Tarbil 35 are in the field. Surely Tarbil will be beneficial to them but the role and importance of agricultural engineers will not diminish with Tarbil. Rather opposite, Tarbil will also bring rich resources to help farmers not only survive day to day farming activities but also help them for long term plan, improvement, investment and other opportunities time may bring. Therefore Tarbil is not a threat to agricultural engineers or a tool for a government to make more effective legislations to invaluable tool for them to take better part in such opportunities. Conclusions It is now very easy to access and share information with developing technology. Owing to information management, it is possible to use resources effectively and make accurate planning. Along with the effective use of limited resources in the face of increasing human population, both resource protections can be provided and yield increase can be achieved. Best part of our existing water resources are used for irrigation farmlands. By help of TARBİL thanks, the plant's water demand is clearly determined and it is possible to minimize water consumption. Thus, both our resources will be protected and economic benefits will be provided. The quantity of crops produced will be kept under control and supply will be able to maintain the equilibrium of demand. Every year, majority of farmers make traditional farming; do their own planning, instead of following regional or national agricultural plans or market requirements and consequently grow wrong crops. As a result, they are unable to find the price they deserve in the market by producing poor quality, inadequate or excessive yields, inadequate or excessive variety of crops. Consequently, both the farmer s labour and the country s valuable resources are wasted. TARBİL is the information management system of agriculture. Tarbil will be leading the country's economy by preventing such negative effects. For this reason, the benefits of Information Management in agricultural sectors and in other sectors cannot be denied. It is necessary to help the more efficient use of the resources of Turkey by ensuring the adoption and development of the concept of Information Management in every field. REFERENCES Anameriç, H., (2005). Bilgi sistemleri ve yönetimde bilgi sistemlerinin kullanımı. Bilgi Çağı Bilgi Yönetimi ve Bilgi Sistemleri içinde. Coşkun Can Aktan ve İstiklal Y. Vural (Edi). Konya: Çizgi Kitabevi. Barutçugil, İ., (2002). Bilgi yönetimi. İstanbul: Kariyer Yayıncılık. Brown, J.S., Duguid, P., (1998). Invention, innovation and organization. Submitted to Organization Science, September.1998, Chua, A., (2002). Taxonomy of organizational knowledge. Singapore Management Review Çapar, B., (2003). Bilgi yönetimi: nasıl bir insan gücü? Tahir Büyükakın ve Figen Büyükakın (Yay. Haz.). II. Ulusal Bilgi, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Kongresi Bildiriler Kitabı içinde. İstanbul: Beta Basım Yayım. Davenport, T., Prusak, L., (2001). İş dünyasında bilgi yönetimi. İstanbul: Rota Yayın Yapım Tanıtım Tic. Ltd. Şti. Dinçer, A., (2014). Bilgi çağında işletmeler açısından bilgi yönetimi ve stratejik Önemi. ( Knowledge Management in the knowledge age and its strategic importance for companies ). XVI. Akademik Bilişim Konferansı Bildirileri Mersin Üniversitesi 2014, , (Yayın No: )

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