home    about    browse    search    latest    help 
Login | Create Account

A Diagnosis of Biophysical and Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Farmers’ Choice to Adopt Organic or Conventional Farming Systems for Cotton Production

Riar, Amritbir; Mandloi, Lokendra S.; Poswal, Randhir S.; Messmer, Monika M. and Bhullar, Gurbir S. (2017) A Diagnosis of Biophysical and Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Farmers’ Choice to Adopt Organic or Conventional Farming Systems for Cotton Production. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, p. 1289.

[thumbnail of riar-etal-2017-fpls-Vol08-p01289.pdf]
Preview
PDF - English
1MB

Document available online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2017.01289/full


Summary

Organic agriculture is one of the most widely known alternative production systems advocated for its benefits to soil, environment, health and economic well-being of farming communities. Rapid increase in the market demand for organic products presents a remarkable opportunity for expansion of organic agriculture. A thorough understanding of the context specific motivations of farmers for adoption of organic farming systems is important so that appropriate policy measures are put in place. With an aim of understanding the social and biophysical motivations of organic and conventional cotton farmers for following their respective farming practices, a detailed farm survey was conducted in Nimar valley of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The study area was chosen for being an important region for cotton production, where established organic and conventional farms operate under comparable circumstances. We found considerable variation among organic and conventional farmers for their social and biophysical motivations. Organic farmers were motivated by the sustainability of cotton production and growing safer food without pesticides, whereas conventional farmers were sensitive about their reputation in community. Organic farmers with larger holdings were more concerned about closed nutrient cycles and reducing their dependence on external inputs, whereas medium and small holding organic farmers were clearly motivated by the premium price of organic cotton. Higher productivity was the only important motivation for conventional farmers with larger land holdings. We also found considerable yield gaps among different farms, both under conventional and organic management, that need to be addressed through extension and training. Our findings suggest that research and policy measures need to be directed toward strengthening of extension services, local capacity building, enhancing availability of suitable inputs and market access for organic farmers.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:organic cotton, Baumwolle, Department of Crop Sciences, Plant Breeding and Variety Testing, systems comparison
Subjects: Crop husbandry
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > India
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Special crops > Cotton
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International
India
ISSN:1664-462X
DOI:DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.01289
Deposited By: Messmer, Dr. Monika
ID Code:31989
Deposited On:20 Jul 2017 08:07
Last Modified:17 Nov 2020 14:00
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics