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Organic agriculture in Iran: Farmers' barriers to and factors influencing adoption

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2013

Shohreh Soltani ,
Hossein Azadi ,
Hossein Mahmoudi  and
Frank Witlox
Shohreh Soltani
Affiliation:
Agricultural Planning, Economic and Rural Development Research Institute, Iran.
Hossein Azadi*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Ghent University, Belgium.
Hossein Mahmoudi
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences in Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany. Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Iran.
Frank Witlox
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Ghent University, Belgium.
*
*Corresponding author: hossein.azadi@ugent.be
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Abstract

Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from the use of chemical materials in agriculture. Despite many advantages of organic agriculture, the results of several case studies show that its adoption rate is still very low among farmers. The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies that investigated the main factors influencing and challenging the adoption of organic agriculture. The review included journal articles and conference papers from 2007 to 2012. The results show that Iranian farmers have strong motives for the adoption, yet face challenges in certifying, marketing, and accessing reliable technical information and credits. Given the review of factors that govern farmers' adoption of organic agriculture, key mechanisms for promoting farmers' adoption are discussed. Further research is needed to learn how to bring these mechanisms into play in Iran.

Keywords

organic agriculturerenewable agriculturesustainable agriculturefarmers' attitudesmall-scale farming
Type
Review Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 126 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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