Analyzing the Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness to Produce Safe Agricultural Products: Evidence from Vegetable and Rice Farmers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Organic farming has been widely recognized as the best alternative that provides healthy food, environmental protection and ecological balance which have been seriously threatened by high input agricultural methods. This demands the need of promoting safe food production which has been considerably neglected especially in the developing countries. The aim of this article was to investigate the factors affecting to farmers’ willingness to produce safe agricultural products or to adopt organic farming methods. On the basis of field survey data obtained from rice and vegetable farmers in Uva province in Sri Lanka and utilizing a binary logistic model this study found that farmers’ willingness is positively influenced by a number of factors: farmer’s education level, household income, income from agricultural activities, years of farming, land extent, relative price of organic products, knowledge on eco system services, risk behaviour, and entrepreneurial skills. Finding suggest that farmers could be motivated to produce safe food products by incorporating these influential variables in targeted programs rather than giving ad hoc economic incentives.

Key words: Safe agricultural products; Farmers’ willingness; Organic farming; Sri Lanka

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-2-19