Conversion to organic farming: a dynamic opportunity for Pakistani smallholders of fresh fruit

Abid, Ali; Jie, Shang

doi:10.1590/0103-8478cr20200942

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AGRIBUSINESS • Cienc. Rural 51 (9) • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20200942 copy

Conversion to organic farming: a dynamic opportunity for Pakistani smallholders of fresh fruit

Conversão para a agricultura orgânica: uma oportunidade dinâmica para pequenos produtores de frutas frescas do Paquistão

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT:

Exporting the organic fresh fruit (FF) to Europe and America could be regarded as great opportunity for smallholders and suppliers of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. Yet, the global organic farmland and the number of organic producers are continued to grow. To date, little is known about the behavior of Pakistani farmers towards organic fresh fruit production. This study examined the factors that influence the decision-making of fresh fruit smallholders concerning the conversion to organic farming (COF). This study uses Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict the behavior of Pakistani smallholders of fresh fruit. Path analysis examined the utility of the extended version of the TPB model to anticipate 277 small-scale farmers’ behavioral intentions towards the adoption of organic farming (AOF) and their prospect of converting their farm to organic produce within the next three years. The present study reported that the smallholders’ attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), and farmer’s group participation (FGP) were positively correlated with farmer’s intention to adopt organic farming, while group participation of farmers has significant correlation with their behavior regarding production of organic fruits. The present study justifies using the model of farmers’ group participation in policies that deliberately cheer up smallholders of fresh fruit to adopt organic farming, to raise farm incomes and to alleviate poverty.

Key words:
organic farming; farm conversion; theory of planned behavior; PLS structural equation modeling; group participation

-----------------------------Estimated Model-------------------------
SRMR	0.071
d_ULS	0.884
d_G	0.483
Chi-Square	746.785
NFI	0.722

Universidade Federal de Santa Maria Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Centro de Ciências Rurais , 97105-900 Santa Maria RS Brazil , Tel.: +55 55 3220-8698 , Fax: +55 55 3220-8695 - Santa Maria - RS - Brazil
E-mail: cienciarural@mail.ufsm.br

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[1] E-mail: shangjie2005@126.com. ^*Corresponding author

-------------------------------------------------------Measuring the decision to participate in the group-------------------------------------------------
1“Certification according to organic standard”			(YES = 2 NO = 1)
2“Contract with an exporter”			(YES = 2 NO = 1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Rating scale----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Circle the number, which indicates your level of decision to participate in the group: the lower the score, the less likely you are.
----------------------------------------Not at all likely--------------------------------------		-------------------------------------------Extremely likely------------------------------------
1	2	3	4	5

Items	Measurement objects
ATTw	I believe that producing organic fruits on the farm is a good idea
ATTx	In my opinion, the production of organic fruits in the farm is beneficial
ATTy	For me, the production of organic fruits on the farm is important.
ATTz	In my opinion, the production of organic fruits in the farm is wise.
SNw	My family members would expect me to produce organic fruits on the farm.
SNx	My friends would favor the idea of the farm producing organic fruits.
PBCw	I feel confident in producing organic fruits on the farm.
PBCx	I have control over whether or not to produce organic fruits on the farm.
FGPw	The decision to participate in the group, “certification according to organic standard” (2=yes; 1=no)
FGPx	The decision to participate in the group, “contract with an exporter” (2=yes; 1=no)
BHR_INTw	I intend to produce organic fruits on the farm.
BHR_INTx	I will use every effort to produce organic fruits on the farm.
BHR_INTy	I am willing to produce organic fruits at the farm.
BHRw	How likely do you think the production of organic fruits on your farm, within next three years?
BHRx	Do you think the adoption of organic farming on your farm is possible within next three years?
BHRy	How probable is that you will start the conversion to organic farming within next three years?

Characteristics		Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Male	265	95.7
Gender	Female	12	4.3
Age	Upto 29	115	41.5
	30 to 39	81	29.2
	40 to 49	50	18.1
	50 to 59	20	7.2
	60 & above	11	4
Education	Primary	30	10.8
	Middle Level	52	18.8
	High Level	57	20.6
	College Level	71	25.6
	University & above	67	24.2
Household income (per month)	<15000 Rs.	94	33.9
	15000-25000 Rs.	125	45.1
	<25000 Rs.	58	20.9

Items	Mean	Standard Deviation	Skewness	Kurtosis
ATT_w	3.10	0.722	-0.451	-0.080
ATT_x	3.08	0.796	-0.670	0.137
ATT_y	3.23	0.719	-0.723	0.444
ATT_z	2.96	0.871	-0.479	-0.484
SN_w	3.06	0.794	-0.548	-0.148
SN_x	2.94	0.864	-0.391	-0.603
PBC_w	3.07	0.743	-0.277	-0.679
PBC_x	3.09	0.787	-0.611	0.005
FGP_w	3.15	0.736	-0.412	-0.532
FGP_x	3.14	0.755	-0.494	-0.338
BHR_INT_w	3.27	0.622	-0.261	-0.625
BHR_INT_x	3.22	0.713	-0.355	-0.983
BHR_INT_y	3.16	0.684	-0.212	-0.862
BHR_w	3.00	0.814	-0.534	-0.168
BHR_x	3.13	0.813	-0.561	-0.433
BHR_y	2.86	0.948	-0.375	-0.816

Latent Construct	Items	Loadings	AVE	Composite Reliability	Cronbach’s Alpha
Behavior	BHRw	0.863	0.739	0.895	0.824
	BHRx	0.850
	BHRy	0.867
Behavioral Intention	BHR_INTw	0.789	0.602	0.919	0.869
	BHR_INTx	0.791
	BHR_INTy	0.747
Attitude	ATTw	0.816	0.673	0.892	0.838
	ATTx	0.817
	ATTy	0.792
	ATTz	0.856
Subjective Norms	SNw	0.894	0.799	0.888	0.748
	SNx	0.893
Perceived Behavioral Control	PBCw	0.877	0.776	0.874	0.712
	PBCx	0.885
Farmers’ Group Participation	FGPw	0.870	0.761	0.964	0.886
	FGPx	0.875

	ATT	BHR	BHR_INT	FGP	PBC	SN
Attitude	0.820 Ø
Behavior	0.766	0.860 Ø
Behavioral Intention	0.701	0.723	0.776 Ø
Farmers' Group Participation	0.691	0.732	0.714	0.872 Ø
Perceived Behavioral Control	0.718	0.731	0.711	0.719	0.881 Ø
Subjective Norms	0.708	0.775	0.690	0.748	0.696	0.894 Ø

Path	Coefficients (Sample 277)	t-Statistics	p-Values
ATT ==> BHR	0.195^*	3.232	0.000
ATT ==> BHR_INT	0.232^*	4.176	0.000
BHR_INT ==> BHR	0.408^*	7.345	0.000
FGP ==> BHR	0.544^*	10.888	0.000
FGP ==> BHR_INT	0.252^*	3.885	0.000
PBC ==>BHR	0.102^*	3.612	0.000
PBC ==>BHR_INT	0.249^*	4.281	0.000
SN ==>BHR	0.067^**	2.434	0.015
SN ==>BHR_INT	0.163^**	2.800	0.005

Endogenous construct	R ²	Q ²	Relationship	f ²	Effect size
Behavior	0.618	0.431	BHR_INT ==> BHR	0.214	Moderate
Behavior	0.618	0.431	FGP ==> BHR	0.250	Moderate
Behavioral Intention	0.632	0.358	ATT ==> BHR_INT	0.056	Small
			SN ==> BHR_INT	0.026	Small
			PBC ==> BHR_INT	0.063	Small
			FGP ==> BHR_INT	0.061	Small