The characteristics of conventional and organic farmers in Podravska region

Abstract

he paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey on adoption of organic farming in Podravska region. The survey was conducted on the sample of 58 organic farms and 99 conventional farms in the year 2005. The results show certain differences among both groups of farms in information adoption and attitudes towards nature sustainability. Both groups of farms use different information sources, and are members in different associations. Also the level of environmental awareness is higher by organic farmers but in many other characteristics the differences are not significant. The analysis of future plans of conventional farmers also revealed a significant proportion of farms which are undecided regarding the conversion of their farms to organic agriculture in the next 10 years.

Keywords

• attitudes
• ecological agriculture
• agri-environmental schemes