Demand For Organic Food Research Articles

Perspectives on organic transition from transitioning farmers and farmers who decided not to transition

AbstractDespite continuous growth in demand for organic food and farm products, US domestic supply is not keeping pace. Increasing domestic supply requires, in part, that more farms transition to certified organic production. This in turn requires a better understanding of the transition process. This paper reports on a national survey of farmers transitioning to organic certification through participation in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program Organic Initiative (EQIP-OI). Our analysis focuses on what motivates farmers to undertake transition to organic certification and what obstacles they confront in the process. The survey population included farmers in the midst of the transition process and farmers who began transition but decided not to pursue organic farming, allowing us to compare both groups to farmers who successfully transitioned to certified organic. Because farmers do not control all of the factors that influence their success, we use a ‘spheres of influence’ framework to analyze obstacles at four levels: the farm, local and regional infrastructure, the marketplace and policy. Our results improve our understanding of the transition process and apply to a wide range of stakeholders and service providers who support farmers in different ways, through crop research, infrastructure development, market development and policy.

Organic Food Products - A Study on Perception of Women Consumers

The demand for organic food has been rapidly increasing worldwide, because of an improvement in the awareness of environmental problems and health concerns. Although the demand for organic food is increasing, the popularity of organic food is not widespread and the perception of organic food varies in the wide public. This study aimed to understand rural areas consumers’ perception of organic food and the importance of organic certification in customer’s decisions for obtaining insights into their consumption of organic food. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. However, for the present study, the researcher selected retail shops from various stores such as small shop and department store in rural areas. The more consumers are interested in trust and are confident with the claimed benefits, the more likely will they purchase organic food. In addition, organic labels and certification turned out to be important for the consumers when shopping organic food. This research was the first study to investigate the consumers perception of organic food in a rural area. It is also observed that health, nutrition, taste, and chemical/fertilizer free nature are the attributes that have an influence on the purchase decision of organic food products by rural consumers. “Health benefits” were the first and primary reason for purchasing organic food, while “high price” was the key deterrent to purchasing organic food.

Farmers’ Decision to Adopt Organic Rice Farming in Pringkasap Village

Organic farming is not the only potential solutions to overcome the problems of conventional farming systems by offering positive impacts on health and environment but also to fulfill the growing demand for healthier food. However, the growing demand for organic food was not responded simultaneously by an increase in the supply of organic food. This means that there is opportunity to increase participation of farmers to adopt organic rice farming systems. This study aims to analyze the adoption rate and factors affecting farmer adoption of organic rice farming system. This study used primary data of 32 organic and conventional farmers in Pringkasap Village Subang Regency. The respondents were chosen using census method for organic farmers and purposive sampling for conventional farmers.The data was analyzed used descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The results showed that the number of farmers adopted organic rice only 6.25% amongst the 265 rice farmers in Pringkasap Village. The results also showed that education, farmed land, farmer’s perception of the relative advantage of organic farming and number of family members are factors that significantly affect the adoption of organic rice farming in Pringkasap Village.

Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli between conventional and organic broiler flocks

Antimicrobial resistance ( AMR ) is a growing concern for human and animal health. Public awareness of these issues has contributed to increased demand for organic food. In poultry production, there are 3 major production types: no antibiotic ever, organic, and conventional. Organics have been considered safer alternatives that carry fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria and have less incidence of stable resistance. In this study, we examined the impact of organic and conventional production practices on the resistance patterns of the intestinal microbiome of chickens. Culture and sensitivity analysis performed on the cecal contents were compared between organic and conventionally grown chickens from identical parent stock collected in July and September. The results demonstrated that Escherichia coli isolated from conventionally produced chickens were significantly more resistant to neomycin ( P -value <0.0002) and tetracycline ( P -value = 0.0000) when compared with organically produced chickens in the July collection samples. However, there was no significant difference observed between groups in the September samples. These data demonstrate that AMR patterns of E. coli can differ significantly between organic and conventional chickens in the samples, but AMR pattern among E. coli isolates may not be consistent.

Перспективи доступу українських експортерів органічної продукції до ринку ЄС в умовах екологізації Спільної аграрної політики ЄС

The article identifies the main directions of the EU Common Agricultural Policy at the present stage, which are focused on the ecologization of the agricultural sector. Based on the goals of the CAP for the period 2021-2027, the dynamics and importance of the development of organic production in EU member states were analyzed. It is proved that organic farming and trade in organic products are the perspective niche area for Ukrainian exports to the EU. The main factors of the development of Ukrainian organic exports to the EU are highlighted, including simplified access to the EU market under the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, the significant capacity of the EU market, growing demand for organic food in EU member states, and insufficient domestic supply of organic products on the European market.

Drivers of Repurchase Intention of Organic Food in India: Role of Perceived Consumer Social Responsibility, Price, Value, and Quality

Sustainable consumption and organic food demand are increasing at a rapid rate in emerging economies. This research studies the repurchase intention toward organic food in the Indian context and employs a cross-sectional survey technique (n = 450). The study analyses the role of perceived consumer social responsibility, price, value, and quality in repurchase intention through structural equation modeling using PLS-SEM. Findings suggest that perceived price fairness and perceived value have a significant influence on repurchase intention; perceived consumer social responsibility positively influences perceived price fairness and perceived quality. Interestingly, the relationship between perceived quality and repurchase intention was not significant; however, the indirect effect of perceived quality was found significant. Furthermore, the mediating role of perceived value was established in the relationship of perceived price fairness and repurchase intention as well as perceived quality and repurchase intention, signifying the importance of perceived value for Indian consumers.

Strategies to Improve Biological Control of Soilborne Plant Diseases

Biological control of plant soilborne diseases has appeared as an attractive alternative to other control methods. For the biological control of plant soilborne diseases, microorganisms mainly bacteria and fungi are used, which suppress growth and virulence traits or even kill pathogens and induce plant systemic acquired resistance. In recent years, the demand for organic food increased the use of biological control agents; however, complete control of plant diseases has not been achieved yet. The beneficial microbes used for biological control of plant diseases perform admirably under controlled greenhouse conditions but are not always successful under field conditions, which highly discourages the biological control methods. Hence, complete removal of chemicals from agricultural systems may not be impossible but a logical reduction in their application is feasible. Therefore, systematic integrated methods including both chemical and biological control and other control methods like cultural practices, resistant varieties and crop rotation are highly recommended.

Strategies to Improve Biological Control of Soilborne Plant Diseases

Biological control of plant soilborne diseases has appeared as an attractive alternative to other control methods. For the biological control of plant soilborne diseases, microorganisms mainly bacteria and fungi are used, which suppress growth and virulence traits or even kill pathogens and induce plant systemic acquired resistance. In recent years, the demand for organic food increased the use of biological control agents; however, complete control of plant diseases has not been achieved yet. The beneficial microbes used for biological control of plant diseases perform admirably under controlled greenhouse conditions but are not always successful under field conditions, which highly discourages the biological control methods. Hence, complete removal of chemicals from agricultural systems may not be impossible but a logical reduction in their application is feasible. Therefore, systematic integrated methods including both chemical and biological control and other control methods like cultural practices, resistant varieties and crop rotation are highly recommended.

Uticaj prerade na sadržaj vitamina C, ukupnih fenola i ukupnu antioksidativnost u organski proizvedenoj cvekli ("Beta vulgaris" ssp. "Rubra")

The demand for organic food is rising since consumers want food from reliable, highest quality sources originating from the environment, undisturbed by cultivation and processing. It is necessary to determine to what extent there is a scientific basis for the claims that organic food is of high quality. In this study, beetroot from an organic production system originating from 6 certified organic food producers from different geographic locations was examined. The organic beetroot samples were processed by pasteurization at 70 ºC and 90 ºC into beet juice or by drying at 55 ºC. The following samples were tested and compared: fresh beetroot, pasteurized beet juice and dried beetroot slices. The concentration of vitamin C, level of total phenol compounds (TPC) and antioxidative activity (TAA) in beetroot were influenced by the geographic origin and the applied processing method. The highest degradation for all analysed parameters was found in the samples treated by drying or pasteurisation at 90 ºC. The lowest losses of studied phytochemical components were observed during juice pasteurisation at 70 ºC. The correlation coefficient between TPC and TAA was high and significant (r2 = 0.966).

Medicinal Plants, A promising Source of Natural Fungicides against &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;, Causal Agent of Wheat Blast

Wheat blast, caused by a fungal pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae Tritichum (MoT) pathotype (wheat isolates), was first reported in Bangladesh among Asian countries in 2016. It is a serious disease of wheat causing yield failures and significant economic losses during epidemic years. Extensive use of persistent synthetic pesticides to control notorious wheat blast imposes enormous threat to human health and environment. In addition, the increasing demand for organic food has stimulated people to look for alternative methods. Nowadays, the need for synthetic chemical-free agricultural practices is gaining importance due to effective in managing crop pests, inexpensive, biodegradable, easily available and have low toxicity to non-target organisms. In order to identify active plants, 12 kinds of methanol extracts obtained from 12 medicinal plants were conducted in vitro to test the effect against Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) pathotype. The remarkable inhibitory activity {(29.6 ± 01.5) mm, (25.1 ± 01.0) mm and (20.0 ± 02.0) mm zone of inhibition)} exhibited by the extracts (5 mg/disk) obtained from Artemisia indica (Nagdona), Persicaria orientalis (Bishkatali) and Clerodendrum indicum (Bamonhati), respectively. Other medicinal plant extracts did not show any significant or no activity at all. Therefore, the three plant extracts might be a promising source for developing natural fungicides against wheat blast.

ДЕТЕРМІНАНТИ ПОПИТУ СВІДОМОГО СПОЖИВАЧА НА ЕКОЛОГІЧНІ ПРОДУКТИ ХАРЧУВАННЯ

The consumer behavior study area mixes elements from economics, psychology, and social anthropology to understand the buyer decision-making process. The interest for environmental friendly behavior and its impacts on consumer patterns, including the issue of buying eco-food. The buying eco-products have become a focus of attention for government, business and community activists. Conscious consumption is defined by consumer choice based on knowledge about social, environmental, and political implications. It is a study about products, services, business activities, production processes, disposal options, and socially and environmentally responsible decisions. Conscious consumer behavior reduces environmental pollution, leads to a healthy lifestyle, increasing demand for environmentally friendly products. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the determinants of organic food demand. Also, in the paper, we identify market development perspectives in the context of conscious consumption. The study identifies consumers’ motives to buy organic food. There are some reasons why people buy this food. First, this food has better quality. Second, this food cares about the health and the environment’s state. The most of the respondents increase the consumption of organic food because of its availability. It is a positive trend to purchase vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, meat products, and eggs. Some obstacles keep people from buying organic food: high prices, lack of confidence in getting raw materials, availability of cheap products, consumer income. Economic factors define the lifestyle of buyers, their preferences, frequency of purchases, and market choices. We should take into account such factors. When the business supplies raw materials and products, the market of organic food products will perform and develop. The production of ecological products will have greater labor intensity and lower efficiency compared to other agriculture products. That leads to higher prices for manufactured products. Conscious consumers understand this and purchase organic products to support the green market. The choice to buy eco-products develops the environmental consciousness of the consumer.

Green Chemistry of Organic Farming and Organic Food: A Review

The organic farming system follows various principles of natural ecosystem which is based on the structural and functional relationships of natural ecosystems. The food production historypresume that organic farming was the predominant cultivation method practiced for last decade, but in the beginning of the twentieth century we observed the advanced biochemistry and bio-engineering immensely changed cultivation system by uses synthetic fertilizers and pesticides(Fabiansson, 2014). But the consumption of organic food has seen a marked increment around the globe in the past decade. The common reports suggested that organic foods have a better taste as compared to the other conventional kinds, primarily because the crops have been given more time to develop and mature, in addition to usage of environment friendly agricultural techniques.As organic foods and conventional products are close substitutes, consumers conveniently choose the cheaper, conventional category and thus, limiting the demand for organic food. It is difficult to justify the price premium to the consumers as health benefits from organic food consumption cannot be particularly quantified.Organic farming and its coordination and administration enhance the environment as well as human health which have an important objective for all credible economic food production and growth.

Organic farming practices utilizing spent microbial biomass from an industrial fermentation facility promote transition to copiotrophic soil communities.

Organic farming has become more prevalent in recent years as consumer demand for organic food and fiber has rapidly grown. Until recently, organic fertilizers and soil amendments have largely been based on the practices of returning crop residues, manures and related agricultural wastes back to crop production areas. One rapidly growing segment in commercial organic fertilizer development is the use of spent microbial biomass (SMB) from industrial fermentation processes. While SMB is widely accepted in many organic farming systems (OFS), little is known concerning the effectiveness, environmental impact, and influence on prokaryotic communities in soils receiving this treatment. In this study, a comparative analysis of bacterial communities associated with OFS and conventional farming systems was performed over a growing season for a field containing yellow dent corn (Zea mays). A statistically significant increase in microbial population α-diversity, along with a strong recruitment of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria populations, was observed in soils treated with SMB when compared to areas in the field that utilized conventional farmer practices. These phyla are members of the copiotrophic subgroup, and considered a signature for the use of traditional organic fertilizers. These results provide valuable new information that SMB functions similarly to traditional organic fertilizers in promoting a high level of functional prokaryotic diversity and plant growth-promoting bacteria, but in contrast do not contribute directly to viable microorganisms in the soil due to the sterilization of SMB prior to land application.

Economic Analysis of Crop Rotation Systems for High Value Cool-Season Vegetables in the Southern Region, USA

The demand for organic food has increased tremendously over the last decade in the U.S. In the Southeast, the high demand for organic food has sparked an interest among conventional vegetable growers about organic production techniques and put increasing demand on existing organic growers. However, there is little information available on profitable organic vegetable crops suitable for the region. This study analyzes crop rotation systems for high value cool-season vegetables to develop production and economic models that will help growers increase profit and reduce risk. Economic and statistical analyses provide useful information on net returns by crops and by rotations as well as the variability in net returns.

Assessing Mungbean Productivity under Organic Management

Background: Now a day’s demand for organic food has increased. Being leguminous, requirement of nitrogen for mung is low. Soil organic matter could affect the soil microbial community and increase the crop growth and yield. In mungbean, roots have symbiotic rhizobia bacteria, which help in fixing atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. Nitrogen plays a major role in synthesis of protein, chlorophyll and plant enzymes of legume. The chemical fertilizers is used in huge quantity which hazards the soil and environment. Synthetic fertilizers have mainly macronutrients in large quantities and cemented the soil for worsening the soil and also the negative impact on crops, livestock and human being. The application of organic sources of nutrients improves the soil physical-chemical condition by adding macro and micronutrients bothMethods: A field experiment in Kharif season was conducted at Agronomy field of CCSHAU, Hisar, Haryana, to study the yield, quality and physiological parameters of mungbean under different organic sources. The experiment was conducted with nine treatments viz., T1- RDF, T2-FYM @ 5 t/ha, T3-Vermicompost@ 2.5 t/ha, T4-FYM @ 5t/ha + Rhizobium, T5-Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha + Rhizobium, T6-Green manuring +FYM @ 5 t/ha, T7- Green manuring + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha, T8-Green manuring + FYM @ 5t/ha + Rhizobium and T9-Green manuring + Vermi-compost @ 2.5 t/ha + Rhizobium in RBD replicated thrice.Result: Application of recommended dose of fertilizer produced 6.93 and 4.04 percent higher yield as compared to green manuring + FYM @ 5t/ha + Rhizobium and green manuring + vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha, respectively. The data revealed that the SPAD value of chlorophyll, RWC and LWP was higher with the application of various organic sources over to recommended dose of fertilizer.

The effects of perceived regulatory efficacy, ethnocentrism and food safety concern on the demand for organic food

AbstractCertified organic products hold a niche but growing share of global food markets with considerable interest in the factors affecting consumers’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for organic food. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of perceived regulatory efficiency, food safety concern and ethnocentrism on demand for organic food. In total, 450 Iranian food shoppers took part in a choice experiment for organic rice, with the attributes: price, retail outlet, product type and country of origin. Mixed logit model results suggest that perceived regulatory efficacy and food safety concerns enhance WTP for organic food, while ethnocentrism enhances consumers’ WTP for domestically produced food but not organic food per se. In emerging economies, the growth of the organic market will depend on the perceived robustness of regulatory systems while ethnocentrism will curtail the potential for export‐based models of development.

Organic vegetables demand in urban area using a count outcome model: case study of Burkina Faso

This paper designs and tests a model for count outcomes to analyse the effective demand for organic vegetables in the city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. From a ‘short value chain’ perspective, we show that the distance travelled by consumers to organic vegetable production sites primarily managed by women farmers’ associations, is a key determinant of organic food demand. Furthermore, the effect of the distance travelled on the demand is stronger for women than for men. In addition, consumers’ health awareness and the intended use of these vegetables are significant determinants of their demand. Moreover, social-relational factors affect the purchase decision both ways, including issues of trust and access to market information. Thus, this paper first introduces the socially subjective considerations of the demand for food in the close interaction between producers and consumers of organic food. Second, it contributes to filling the knowledge gap on the factors influencing consumer behaviour in purchasing organic food in urban production sites in developing countries.

Biologically Active Compounds in Selected Organic and Conventionally Produced Dried Fruits.

A growing demand for organic foods is driven by consumers′ perception that they are more nutritious. However, while there is a number of scientific studies showing some superior qualities of organically grown fruit and vegetables, including, i.e., higher content of phenolics, some vitamins and antioxidant activity, scientific research looking into the quality of processed organic products is very limited. At the same time the consumption of processed, convenient foods, with a long shelf-life, is rapidly increasing all over the world. Among the processed fruit-based products, dried fruits are recognized by consumers as one of the best snacks, highly nutritious and containing a large amount of fibre. In the presented experiment, four types of organic and conventionally produced dried fruits were examined: Apricots, apple rings, cranberries, and prunes. The concentrations of polyphenols (in all products) and carotenoids (in apricots) were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The study confirms that dry fruits can be undoubtedly considered as a rich source of polyphenols, however, a large variation in the concentrations of these compounds among different brands of products was also pointed: 219.03 ± 3.90–296.96 ± 2.86 mg 100 g−1 in dried apricots, 95.24 ± 15.12–627.71 ± 48.64 mg 100 g−1 in dried apple rings, 14.64 ± 0.43–203.09 ± 7.96 mg 100 g−1 in dried cranberries, and 134.65 ± 12.27–422.44 ± 9.00 mg 100 g−1 in prunes. Carotenoids concentrations in dried apricots ranged from 2.72 ± 0.31 to 17.49 ± 0.17 µg g−1. Among the tested dried fruits, only in the case of apricots organic products were characterized by the higher contents of phenolics and carotenoids compared to the conventional brands. In the case of other products there was either no consistent significant production system effect, or the concentrations of the analyzed phenolic compounds were higher in conventional products.

Sweet peppers discrimination according to agronomic production mode and maturation stage using a chemical-sensory approach and an electronic tongue

The demand for organic foods has increased worldwide, in particular due to the association with healthier, more nutritious and tasty products, being a clear trend on sweet peppers’ consumption. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of agronomic production mode (conventional and organic) and maturation stage (associated to green, turning and red colours) on the chemical-sensory attributes of peppers grown in open field. It was found that organic peppers had a better visual/tactile aspect (greater firmness and more intense colours) but lower chemical quality (lower titratable acidity and total soluble solids). On the other hand, red peppers (higher maturation stage) had lower visual-tactile quality but higher chemical quality. From sensory analysis, conventional peppers had better overall aspect, colour intensity-homogeneity and brightness. Then again, the maturation stage of peppers mostly influenced the sensory visual attributes, being turning colour peppers the less appreciated, although organic red peppers were less succulent and had a lower global quality. Even so, the chemical-sensory parameters could be used to discriminate peppers taking into account the agronomic production mode and the maturation stage/colour (79 ± 12% of correct classifications for the repeated K-fold cross-validation procedure). However, a trained sensory panel is required, which can be a major drawback considering their scarcity. This limitation was successfully overcome by using a potentiometric electronic tongue, which allowed discriminating the peppers with a higher predictive sensitivity (85 ± 9%), showing that this device could be used as an accurate taste sensor for the qualitative analysis of sweet peppers.

Exploring consumer behavior and policy options in organic food adoption: Insights from the Australian wine sector

Organic food has important environmental and health benefits, decreasing the toxicity of agricultural production, improving soil quality, and overall resilience of farming. Increasing consumers’ demand for organic food reinforces the rate of organic farming adoption and the level of farmers' risk acceptance. Despite the recorded 20% growth in organically managed farmland, its global land area is still far less than expected, only 1.4%. Increasing demand for organic food is an important pathway towards sustainable food systems. We explore this consumer-centric approach by developing a theoretically- and empirically-grounded agent-based model. Three behavioral theories – theory of planned behavior, alphabet theory, and goal-framing – describe individual food purchasing decisions in response to policies. We take wine sector as an example to calibrate and validate the model for the case study of Sydney, Australia. The discrepancy between consumer intention and purchasing behavior for organic wine can be explained by a locked-in vicious cycle. We assess the effectiveness of different policies such as wine taxation, and informational-education campaigns to influence consumer choices. The model shows that these interventions are non-additive: raising consumer awareness and increasing tax on less environmentally friendly wines simultaneously is more successful in promoting organic wine than the sum of the two policies introduced separately. The phenomenon of undercover altruism amplifies the preference for organic wine, and the tipping point occurs at around 35% diffusion rate in the population. This research suggests policy implications to help decision-makers in the food sector make informed decisions about organic markets.