Madras Agri. J. 100 Special issue), May 2013 ai Proceedings of the First Agricultural Graduate Student Conference on Food Safety and Food Security May 2-3, 2013 Editors C. Udayasoorian JS. Kennedy Published by Madras Agricultural Journal Madras Agricultural Students’ Union Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore - 641 003MADRAS AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL (Esta: 1911) ‘Vol, 100 (Special issue) Contents May 2013 Recent Advances in Crop Evolution Efficient Transformation of Cry2Ac Gene and its Expression aganst Helicoverpa armigers in “Transgenic Cotton (Gossypizm hirsutum.) Pan aed TS. Raveena 1 Heterosis and Combining Abit for Quality and Combnec Resstance to Nematodesin Tomato (Solanum iycopersicurn.) SSD Comat, L.Pngsloudi, P arsmgirn aad K.N; Gaowsan 7 Comparative Moding of SER/THR Kinase Domain of Wal Associated Kinase in Oryza sativa Characterization of Morphological Tras for Genetic Purity Assessment of Rice Cutivas of Tari Nadu in Grow CutTest(GOT) Plt Pdnpeys, Renin ad N. Seti 1s ‘Mapping SSR Markers linked o Powerylldew Resistance Gene in Sesamum (Sesamum incur.) DD, Stavai G Aanrads, M. Rajenee Rey, 8. Malti, K. Suis aad Yin 2 CConstructon of Microsatolze Data Base for Rice Varetisin Seed Chain of Tami Nad 2 Vignetnans A. Viajakuasr aad MC Raveena a Invi Regeneration and Agrobacterium mecisted Genetic Transformation of Pigconpea (Cajarus cojan(L.)Milsp) M:Prathadcest Dhokate Diazasjoy D. Sodhakar.P.Jeyanani and S. Keshanven 2 ‘Transterabity of SSR Markers Derived ftom Adzukibean, Munghean and Commonbean inBlackgram (Vigna mungo(L.)Heppet) 2. Viooth and ayaa 8 Molecular and Disenostc Cheracerzation in Tomato Varetes and Hybrids Floral Biology of Gor iy Andis Schur and Rajon Kandbossy . Combining Abity in Sunfoner (Hellanthus annus.) Veulata ® Prakash Rely. HI Nada aad AG. Vjayakcinae ss CCharacterzaton of Thermo Sensive Genie Male Seri Lines for Merphology and Forel Tats in Rice D. Dhisyapiy and R. Kalyani s entiation of Molecular Markers for Genomic Regions Associated With High Iron and Zine Concentration ines Grans Y. Roja. NS, SL. Kirn, K Radha and. Magara 6 Association Mapping of Quanttive TraltLoc inRice (Oryza sativa.) Confering Resistance to Brown Planthopper {Nigparvata gens (0) 6 Paviadets, M eandeesavan,V-Netg, Naw, S.Revsth and ML. Makeswaran 6 Exploitation of Heteosis for Fodder Quality Parameters in CMS Based Sorghum Hybrids BR. Prakiby K. Ganesnmnty, A, Ninnlakunat and P. Nasrsen Networking and Linkages for Agricultural Marketing ‘Changing Consumption Pattem in ndiaAMacro And Mero Analysis 2B Distya and SD Svan *” [A Study on Marketing of Fish to Device Sutabe Processing Unit With Respectto Retalingin Cuddalore Disict RThnleiatn and A. Daniel Viwasam San! 8 Atitude and Buying Behaviour of Consumers Towards Organic Foods. Y. Sakthinma, Venkata Consumer Vilingnessto-Pay for Food Safety of ruts and Vegetables in Coembatore Cy An Ordered Log Mode ot Analysis P Bali, SD Sivalunar, KR. Ashok, C, Kateyin and. Despa 98 ‘SD. Shakar 8Maseas Agric. J, 100 (Special sve) 88-92, May 2013, ‘Proceedings ofthe First Agriculral Graduate Student Conference 2013 ‘on Food Safety and Food Security, May 2-3, 2013, SPGS, TNAU, Colimbatore @ Attitude and Buying Behaviour of Consumers Towards Organic Foods \V. Sakthirama®, R. Venkatram and S.O. Sivakumar Deparment of Agultual and Rutl Management ‘Tarni Nadu Agoura! Unveaty, Combatre 81009 {Growing environmental issues along with more concer for safer foods have led people toeiticize ‘modern agriculture. Consumers have become more apprehensive about the nutrition, health, and quality food thoy eat. The main objective ofthis study was to measure attude and buying behaviour of consumers towards organic foods. The attitude was measured by developing an attude scale. The buying behaviour was analyzed based on demographic characteristics, product tributes, purchase frequency and the pereaived value of organic foods by consumers. Probit ‘model vas used to analyze factors influencing purchase of organic food by consumers. The ‘study showed that the respondents had postive attitude towards organic foods and te regular ‘consumers were purchase the organic food regularly and frequent. The higher ieracy, nancial Salus and the nearness of tho store were the major contributing factors identified in regular ‘organic food purchase, The regular consumers had bought more ftesh fruits and vegetables, ey words: Organi products, consume atitude, consumer behavou, purchasing pater Global the preferences fororganicaly produced food ate increasing which result In increase the demand of organic foods (De Haen, 1999) Organic ‘ood is often seen and marketed as heathy food, vitich contains fewer contaminants, more nutrients ‘and most importantiy having a positive effet onthe fenvronment The reasons behind the preferences of organic food ditfler between people to pecple. In lotder to promote organically produced products, a cohesive marketing strategy is needed which depends on @ better and fuller understanding of ‘ood consumers (Hutchins and Greenhalgh. 1937). ‘These preferences arouse main from the changes in ifestyle of consumers who perceive some lacunae In the newer methods of food production and their, safety for consumption, In many countries, research ‘on consumer perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and purchasing practices of organically produced food has been done extensively, (Wiliams and Hammitt, 2000; Jolly ef ai, 1989; Huang, 1996) in USA, (Wrght, 1997) UK, (Hack, 1983) Netherland, (Von Alvensleben, 1998) Germany and (Saunders, 1989) InNNew Zealand, while very linited esearch has been done in india (Chakrabat, 2010), ‘Several studies show that consumers perceived ‘organic food as a healthier atemative to conventional {o0ds in that they contain more nutrients (Lea and Worsley, 2005) which enhance personal vell being (Wiliams and Hammit, 2001). Organic produce is ‘also considered safer (Padel and Foster, 2005) ‘more tasty than conventional products (Davis eta 1995). Consumers purchased organic food manly for health reasons, in view of being better for the children because of lover pesticides and fertitzer "eeeponag adhe erat sarwara@gral con resicues (Davies et al. 1995). Also the trend towards Increased consumption of organic food can be linked to a broader concem about environmental issues (Sparks and Shepherd, 1992). An interview conducted by Hay (1989) discovered that organic foods were perceived {0 be better quail, better tasting, heather, more nutritous but less appealing than conventional products to those who had and ‘who had not purchased organic foods. Ethical and moral reasons for buying organic food are also apparentin other studies (Worcester, 2000). Ample evidence has been provided that one's reigion Infence consumer's attude and behavior in general (Pettinger etal 2008), and food purchasing decisions ‘andeating habitsin particular (Blackwell etal, 2001) Consumer attitudes and beliefs regarding the potential risks and benefits associated with specific ‘oods are likely to represent potentially infuental determinants of consumer food cholees (Verbeke et ‘a, 2005). Such atftudes and beliefs may be formed fas consequence of personal experience wih specific ‘oods (Fischer and De Vies, 2008). These may result from consumers interpreting extemal information of events associated with specific foods o categories of foads (De Jonge etal, 2007) Information about the merits of particular food or food production methods ‘may result in tne development of positve consumer atitudes and increase the lketnood of consumers ‘accepting these foods (Siegrist, eta, 2008) In India, though the organic food market is @ riche segment, over the last decade there has been ‘a remarkable increase in demand for organic food Products. Many etal cutets were established inthe ‘major cles of India exclusively for organi products.Enhanced income coupled with awareness about better neath ana more concern about environment friendly and safety products, has led to a growing ‘appreciation for organic products among the Indian ‘consumers (Chakrabart., 2010). Chakrabarti and BBaisya (2007 and 2009) studied purchase motivation and attiude of organic food buyers of India and inferred that Indians are attached vith organic food ‘and motivated to purchase of organic food cue to health, nutition, taste and the need to look after unwell people. In the highiight of past stucies on ‘organic food purchase by consumers. ths study was Undertaken o analyze the atttude, buying behavior and identiy factors influencing purchase of organic {food by urban consumers. This would be helpful to the marketer fo get a clear picture about the Incian consumer end it would lead to formulate an optimal stalegy. Therefore a study has been conducted in 2010-11 tomeasure the attitude and buying behaviour Of consumers towards organic food in Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu, India with the following specie objectives, + To identity the organic product lines available in the retail outets + To assess the attitude and buying behaviour ofthe consumers with organic food purchas + Toidentity the factors infuencing purchase of cotganic food by urban consumers. Materials and Methods Coimbatore city in India is selected purposively for the study, due to rapid urbanization and industralisation. Three outlets selling organic produce were selected based on the sales volume. Primary data were collected through administering @ structured interview schedule to the customers \whe purchased organic foods in these retal outlets ‘Twenty consumers were contacted from each outlet ‘and thus 60 consumers formed the sample Sze. The sample respondents were then pro-straifed into three categories namely frst ime buyer, occasional (inconsistency in purchase) and regular buyers, ‘The attude was measured through an attitude scale with 16 statements. The five point Likert scale (strongly agiee +5, agree-4, neuival-3, dsagree-2, strongly disagree-1) was used to measure the Statements, The buying benaviour was analyzea through demographic characteristics. product altrbutes, purchase frequency and the pereeives value of organic foods to consumers, Probit Regression Model Probit model was used to identity major factors influencing purchase of orgenic consumer purchase. ‘The regular purchase in organic retal outlet by the consumers was characterized as a dichotomous choice between two mutually exclusive aterabves. “Assuming that each consumer has vel defined uty function over the purchase decision it was defined that ne uty is'U, if consumer regulary purchased 89 ‘rom organic outlet and uty U, othervise. The uty ‘of ether choice is defined rom the economicand non ‘economic factors plus a random error Ha Kt AWK DD andy = gl) Where, Y= 1it1> iter “1's the index reflecting the combined effect of factors, whether the consumers regularly purchase ‘rom organic outet (Y = 1), when “exceeds the threshold level otherwise the consumers nat regularly purchase from organic outlet (¥ = 0) ‘when "fais short of F. Now probabilty of getting @ positve response (Y = 1)is given by Y=F (lo)=F 2; Z=e where, | =isas defined in (1) = Is the standard error of estimate and F (2) 's the area under cumulative normal distrbution function, ‘The choice probability must lie between zero and one, However, the index ‘isin the range (-4 to +4) Size F (2) gves only the probability of regular purchase. the elasticity gives the percentage change In the choice probabily in response toa percentage change in the explanatory variable, Where, 12) Value of the "Y ordinate of the ‘cumulative normal density function at. fe, x, % Fe) e@ 1 ED. ga oi y,___= Probit coefficient ofthe i" variable for Which the elasticity isto be worked out ‘The probit equation fited to entity the factors ‘nfuencing the regular purchase of arganle products TYPOFCUST = _f(B0+B,AGE +8,GEN+ BLLVL4B,INC + B,FTY + B,YOP + B,FOP* 8,05) = Type of customer (1 = Regular ‘Buyer and 0 = Occasional Buyer) [AGE Age ofthe respondents (in years) Female) used income ofthe respondents (Rs month) FTY =Food type vegetarian/ Non vegetarian (O=vegetarian,20 FOP '=Frequency of purchase (Dally 0,- Weekly -1. Monthly twice = 2, Monthly = 3 DIS =Distance tothe store from outlet (in Km) Results and Discussion ‘The details about general characteristics of ‘sample respondents are shown in Tablet and tcould Table, Charactoristics of sample respondents n=60, Character Fisttine Oceasional Regular Seema C2 Regulariyin buying (e457) (95.00) (58.39) Educational ievels 1 3 19 Luptescheoing 44.67) (600) (3187) 2 18 16 a (5.00) (30.00) 28.67) (Cceupatonal status L Government ors 45 3 0 (187) 600) (13.3) 5 10 (187) @33) (1867) 1 a 1" (187) (15.00) (18.33) + ‘4 é —— (187) 687) __(10.00) ‘Fae m te poermesrepset recenoge he be seen that majority ofthe respondents (58.33 per ‘cent) were regular buyers of organic foods and about 35 per cent of the respondents were purchasing ‘occasionally. Among the respondents, 67.67 per ‘cent of customers had graduate level education and ‘about 35 per cent respondents had their on business followed by the private employment (26.67 per cent). ‘The home makers (women) aso visited these outlets ‘and about 18 per cent of the sample were women purchasers, Consumer Attitude towards organic products It could be inferred from the Table 2 that the average likert scale score is 3.95. Hence the Table 2. Consumer Attitude towards organic products Teomesctapnicsae ncn bonnet Teena 415 Toca ats an weeds af 40 ‘octets an ees ners wy ee 40 Digneaty gw a eta ata ae, ate 4g Ses esas Byeangcepane tus ad venebiesoetatneay of 408 rnc nn ods ave no aoa 408 Canc enlonenare theft ores forge ene 405 yest tne angeles getter ate ae Dane gen tte tty fen ee ae ‘octets an ees see ser Enc ty a, cay own as cet re peste es ser mincay gown toss stb ened ser Byala onan an eats ad a 5 esate le lores mn ie tn 355 rye es (825 398 respondents had positive attitude towards the organic ‘ood. The respondents were having attitude scale Point of 4.10 for ‘to eat organic tuts and vegetables 's good". to eat organic fruits and vegetables means, ‘© pay more” and “organically grown foods contain no artificial colours, flavours and preservatives’. It Could be inferted that the respondents had postive attude towards organic foods and also they were ready to pay more for organic food. Similar results ‘were observed in earlier study by Chekrabarti and Baisya (2007). The results aiso revesled that the organic foods have been considered by the consumer as better taste, more nutritious, more flavoured, fresh and less residues which is similar to the result observed by Hay (1988). Buying behaviour towards organic foods ‘The regular buyers preferred to buy organic foods either twice in a week (35 per cent, wile 10 per cent of them purchased daily (Table 3). However, most of Table 3. Purchasing Frequency n=60 “Feaeney Fintine OcrsoreRegibr Toalreopones Fraime an en my tm) oto) co Sereey to) oto) esto Westy tm) aoa) en mt tn sto, om) Rome ntesatto mmenerwne te the occasional buyers preferred either weekly (20, per cent) or monthly purchase (5 per cent). Thus tis, ‘observed that about 73 per cent ofthe respondents atleast once in a week purchased organic food, Organically Produced {In the absence of any formal and authorized Information about the organic certification, §3.33 per ‘cant consumers purchased the foods bated on the oral guarantee given by the retailers and also 46.67, per cent through certification labe's (Table 4). This ble 4, Conviction and Purchase Decisions n=60 ‘esuce Ft _Ovennal Regi To ovienites (Sto) aaa) tena) od 1 oe weer ay sto) een 35) en asm 839 cw Ta ren PT revealed thatthe people trust the organis products sold in exclusive organic food products reall outlets, Preference towards organic foods ‘The result in Table § indicated that about 74 er cent of consumers preferred and consumed ‘organic foods due to safety reasons. The consumers believed that the organic food is free fram chemical contamination, quality food and certified by authenticated agency. About 21.67 per cent of theTablo 5. Reasons for Eating Organic foods n=60 Resroetoresingorane Fratine occas! Renasr Ti a , a a cay ean (aay ater, say (to) eld) eon 33) Frarenewetaitiody tay 00) (00) (tO) wo ein (to) ea) onto) a aR ES respondents preferred organic items as healthy food. Consumers who believed that consumption of organic food is environment friendly assumed for ‘only 5 per cent though itis claimed that organic foods are produced and marketed under the umbrella of “Environment Safety’ From Table 6 it could be found that fruits and Table 6. Quantity of Organic food consumed (kg! household! month) n=60 ‘organic Foe Cesasions Regus Comet 155 26 Beetroot 138 233 ean 00 120 Laaysenger 1.00 140 Binal 103 143 Greens, 109 229 Fruits 554 403 (Oar hte nd vogetabien 250 168 pice 1550 250 mest 500 525 nga het 000 267 Processed semi processed i 240 vegetables were the major organic food products bought by the consumers, Among the vegetables, ‘about 3.5 kg of tomato was purchased on an average for each month. Besides, vegetables, fruits like mango, apple, sapota and papaya are also Purchased by the consumers. The occasional and regular buyers also purchased cereals lke rice and ‘wheat. The regular consumers had bought more fresh ‘ruts and vegetables and it might be the reason for their frequent visit to the retal shop to get the same. Factors influencing purchase of organic food ‘The corresponding elasticity for each variable is. ‘also measured and the elasticity estimates had shown inelastic responses to the changes in gender, literacy level, family income, food habits, years of purchase, frequency of purchase and distance of the outlets from residence though some of the variables had significantly influenced the purchase decisions. The results further revealed that frequency of purchase years of purchase, education, monthly income {and distance to the store were significant relation ‘with regular organic food purchase. The regular consumers were purchase the organic food regularly ‘and frequently for a long period and this might be happened their loyalty towards organic food. Hence a ‘Table 7. Factors influencing on regular customer purchase of organic food Vani Contos SE Toate PUL Means epee arane “rg coe rea RaRE I RET yy Indepenfet varie ne aor oo 476 010 265867 Lneacylee! 14486" 07208 2472 90m 3000 Famiy month gop: ogous 1420 | o0ers saeco ES) enwre oes ose omer ons ‘ecm higher literacy, financial status and the nearness of the store were the major contributing factors in deciding the purchase of the organic food regulary. Conclusion ‘The more favorable the attitude with respect to a behavior, the stronger is the individua's intention ‘to perform the behavior under consideration (Jolly et al, 1989). The study showed that the respondents had positive altitude towards organic foods and also they were ready to pay more for organic food. ‘The consumer preferred the organic food as less residues, better taste, more nutritious, more flavoured ‘and fresh. The regular consumers purchased the organic food regularly and frequently and this might be happened their loyalty towards organic food. ‘Also the result showed that higher literacy. financial Status and the nearness of the store were the major contributing factors in deciding the purchase of the organic food regularly. Thus an increase in the promotional activity nearness to store is expected to Increase sales. The regular buyers preferred to buy organic foods elther twice in a week or purchased daily. The regular consumers had bought more fresh fruits and vegetables and it might be the reason for thelr frequent visit to the retal shop to get the same. ‘Among the vegetables, tomato, carrot, beetroot and greens were purchased with higher quantity Besides, vegetables, fruits ike mango, apple, sapota ‘and papaya were also purchased by the consumers. So the frequency of the purchase by the sample respondent which is very important for any retailers, that can be increased by promotion of sales of fresh organic fruits and vegetables,2 References Blackwell, R1D. Miniard, PL. and Engel, JF 2001 ‘Consumer behavir. Orlando Harcourt Ine, §70p. Chakrabarti, S. 2010, Factors influencing organic food purchase in India ~ expert survey insights. British Food J, 12: 002-015 Chakrabarti, S. and Baisya, RK. 2007. Purchase ‘Motivations and Attitudes of Organic Food Buyers. Decision, 34: 1-22. 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