Environmental Knowledge, Values, and Responsibilities Help to Enhance Organic Farming Intentions: A Case Study of Yunlin County, Taiwan

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the key factors that may influence farmers’ support for organic farming, which is an eco-friendly approach that nourishes the productivity of agricultural and ecological systems. To explore farmers’ adoption of organic-agriculture-related behaviors and the factors that influence these behavioral intentions, this research developed a questionnaire based on Kaiser’s theory of ecological behavior. The participants were 152 farmers, who were recruited via stratified sampling from four major agricultural zones in the county. The results revealed that environmental knowledge, environmental value, and feelings of responsibility positively influenced farmers’ behavioral intentions toward organic agriculture. The positive influence of environmental knowledge on behavioral intentions was enhanced by farmers’ experience, age, and time spent in agriculture each week. However, the positive influences of environmental value and feelings of responsibility were not moderated by the three aforementioned variables. Appropriate promotional and educational measures should incorporate the real-life experiences of farmers to increase their environmental knowledge, environmental value, and feelings of responsibility toward organic agriculture, thereby effectively enhancing their willingness to adopt this type of agriculture.

Keywords

• organic agriculture
• behavioral intention
• environmental knowledge
• environmental values
• environmental responsibility