Evaluation with clustering analysis of milk production in small ruminants in the East Black Sea Region

In this study, the efficiency of using cluster analysis in data obtained from small ruminants was being tested. The aim of the study is to test the effectiveness of cluster analysis using milk production data obtained from small ruminants (sheep and goats) in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The research aims to determine the production differences between the provinces and years in the region by examining the small ruminant milk production data between 2004-2019. The cluster analysis determined which provinces and years provided the highest milk production efficiency. The results aim to analyze regional production trends and productivity differences. Small ruminant milk production data used in the research for the Eastern Black Sea region were obtained from the records kept by TUIK between 2004 and 2019. Due to lack of data, the years before and after these years could not be included in the research. According to the clustering analysis results, the highest sheep milk production was obtained from Ordu, Trabzon and Artvin provinces, which are in the first sub-cluster of the first main cluster, and then from Giresun, which is in the second sub-cluster. The highest goat milk production was observed in the provinces of Rize, Trabzon and Artvin, which are in the same sub-cluster, followed by Giresun, which is in the second sub-cluster. When examined by years, the highest sheep milk production was obtained from 2019, which is in the first sub-cluster of the 2nd main cluster, and then 2017 and 2018, which are in the second sub-cluster. The highest yield in terms of goat milk belongs to the years 2018 and 2019, which are in the second main cluster.