A study on the availability and consumption pattern of organic foods
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Date
2018
Authors
Seema Rani
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Publisher
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
Research study for the availability and consumption pattern of organic foods and knowledge Research study for the availability and consumption pattern of organic foods and knowledge was carried out on a total of 120 selected subjects belonging to middle (MIG) and high income group (HIG) from two cities of Punjab namely Ludhiana and Patiala. Two questionnaires, one regarding consumption pattern of organic foods and another regarding knowledge, attitude and practice score of the subjects were developed, pre-tested and used for collection of data. The results of the present study showed that the age of the respondents varied from 35 to 45 years and fifty percent of the selected subjects were found to be graduates in both the cities. Majority of the subjects in MIG of both the cities were familiar to the term “organic foods”. Majority of the subjects i.e. 35 percent reported that they purchase organic foods because they are healthier and more nutritious while 27.5 percent found their safety as the reason for purchase of organic foods. There was a non significant difference (p≤0.05) in the percentage of subjects belonging to MIG and HIG who were using organic foods since last 1-3 years. The kitchen gardening was being practiced more by the subjects of HIG (63.3%) as compared to MIG (43.3%) subjects. The most preferred organic foods were found to be vegetables (73.3%), fruits (59.1%) followed by cereal and pulses (37.5%). Furthermore, supermarkets were found to be the main source for purchase of organic foods among all the subjects. The majority of the respondents i.e. 36.7 percent agreed that organic foods were very good when compared to conventional foods followed by 30.8 percent respondents agreed that organic foods were good. There was a significant difference (p≤0.05) among the subjects from middle and high income group regarding percent share of monthly expenditure on organic fruits and vegetables i.e. among MIG and HIG the values were 8.75 and 14.7 percent respectively. The majority of the respondents in both income groups gained information about organic foods from television and radio followed by newspaper, friends, organic shops, farmers and labels values being 28.3,18.3,15.8, 15.8, 12.5 and 9.1, respectively. Majority of respondents (88%) strongly agreed that organic foods were healthier than conventional foods and only 2 percent of consumers disagreed to the statement. Organic foods were found to be consumed by 96.7 and 93.3 percent of the MIG and HIG subjects respectively of Ludhiana city where as in Patiala city values were 83.3 and 90 percent respectively. There was a statistically significant (p≤0.05) difference in the overall practice score of respondents belonging to MIG and HIG. The purchase of organic food had a positively significant correlation (p≤0.05) with education and income. Similarly, the monthly expenditure on organic foods and the practice of kitchen gardening had a positive and significant (p≤0.01) correlation with income. The knowledge of the respondents had a significantly (p≤0.05) positive correlation with age and education
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