A Research on Determining the Education Level of Seasonal Ornamental Plant Growers and Marketing Methods in Kocaeli

The main purpose of this study is to examine the education level of growers working in Kocaeli – a city located in the Marmara region where ornamental plants are grown densely – and to find out if they received any vocational education before. It is also aimed to study the marketing methods for the plants pertaining to those who received vocational education and see what advantages vocational education provides to growers.
The main material of the study is formed by a face to face questionnaire study done with 20 enterprises (growers) that operate in Kocaeli and own trade registers. The questionnaires were conducted on March 28 – April 10, 2015 in Kocaeli. The questionnaire consists of 38 questions prepared to serve various purposes for different researches. The data obtained through the questionnaire was analyzed by the SPSS program.
It was seen that 30 percent of the growers who participated in the research were graduates of a university/college and received vocational education, while 70 percent of them were graduates of a primary, secondary, or high school, but didn’t receive any vocational education. It was determined that 80 percent of the growers market and sell their plants, and 90 percent of the growers use new technologies.