Abstract
Understanding the evidence-based factors that influence the adoption of organic farming yields benefits in terms of managing said adoption effectively. We searched relevant articles published in databases including Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google. The inclusion criteria were as follows: original article; published in journals, proceedings, or dissertations; full article publication; published between 1999 and 2021; focusing on assessing the adoption of organic farming or conversion to organic farming; published in English; included data analyzed via correlation coefficient analysis, regression analysis, or discriminant analysis. Out of the 50 articles identified, 33 studies described findings associated with farmer and household factors, 32 described psychobehavioral and psychosocial factors, 36 assessed farming factors, and 33 analyzed supportive factors. The literature provides evidence that relevant factors include the following: (1) farmer and household factors (i.e., gender, off-farm income, and level of education); (2) psycho-behavioral and psychosocial factors (i.e., positive attitude, normative and moral obligations); (3) farming factors (i.e., organic farm experience, production cost, and farm ownership); (4) supportive factors (i.e., training, support of technology, organic farmer neighbors, information acquisition, membership of association, and extension contacts). To promote the adoption of organic farming, extension agents play a vital role in the provision of information via training and the encouragement of conventional farmers to shift towards organic agriculture. The target groups that have the greatest potential for the adoption of organic farming are young farmers, females, individuals who have ownership of their farm, those with a high level of education, and farmers with off-farm income. Farm associations also play a vital role in the sharing of experience and in increasing bargaining power. Support by the government in terms of resources, credit, markets, and subsidy is also relevant in motivating organic farming adoption. Therefore, three sectors, extension agents, farm associations, and the government, are key drivers for the sustainable adoption of organic farming.
Highlights
During the last decade, concerns about the pesticide burden on the environment, ecosystem and health have been raised [1]
Published in journals, proceedings, or dissertations; (3) full article publication; (4) published between 1999 and 2021; (5) assessed the adoption of organic farming or conversion to organic farming; (6) published in English; (7) analyzed data via correlation coefficient analysis, regression analysis, or discriminant analysis to indicate the direction of association, with adjustment for confounding factors
Out of the 50 articles, 33 studies described findings associated with farmer and household factors, 32 analyzed psychobehavioral and psychosocial factors, 36 discussed farming factors, and 33 assessed supportive factors
Summary
Concerns about the pesticide burden on the environment, ecosystem and health have been raised [1]. Pesticides have been shown to cause adverse health effects both in farmers and consumers. The adverse effects range from acute to chronic impacts, depending on type and level of pesticide exposure [2]. To address these problems, organic farming represents one of the most reasonable alternatives for sustainable agriculture [3,4]. Organic farming systems rely on biofertilizers, manure, crop rotation, and mechanical cultivation for the maintenance of soil productivity, enhancement of biodiversity, and the control of pests [4]. Global organic farmland increased to 20% of the total amount of farmland by the end of 2017. The proportion of organic farmland is increasing on all continents.
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