Consumer Awareness and Satisfaction towards Organic Products in Palakkad District - Kerala

The adoption of organic production and processing is highly determined by market demand. Therefore this is reflected in consumer’s awareness and satisfaction towards organic food products. This research result indicated that the main reason for purchasing organic food products is an expectation of a healthier and environment friendly means of production. Organic buyer tend to be older and higher educated than who do not buy them. However, the main barrier to increase the market share of organic food product is consumer information.


IJRAR-International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews
Research Paper get of fertilizers and chemicals in adequate quantities is on the far side their capability. Agriculture is far and away the foremost vital occupation of the individuals of this region. The foremost of the farmers of this region square measure typically tiny and marginal in nature and square measure economically not sound and so, they can't afford to shop for the adequate quantity of fertilizers and chemicals necessary for the crop production.
Organic Agriculture can be a production system that avoids or for the foremost half excludes the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators. The foremost aim of organic agriculture is to substantiate sustained productivity, environmental protection and making on the market food and food merchandise raised with none reasonably chemicals. Agriculture is primarily applied biology and is probably to attain success once it accepts and follows principles like (a) On farm waste exercise, (b) Non-chemical weed management, (c) Biological tormenter management, (d) Integrated nutrient management for sustaining soil fertility and crop productivity.
With increasing health consciousness and concern for setting, organic farming system has been drawing attention all over the world. Organic farming will be a holistic production management system that promotes and enhances agro-ecosystems health additional as bio-diversity, biological cycles and soil biological activities. As a result, there is widespread organic movement and enormous demands for organic merchandise.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.
To study consumer awareness about organic food products. 2. To study attitude of consumers buying and using of organic products. 3. To analysis the factors influencing to buy organic products among the consumers. 4. To identify the level of satisfaction of consumers towards organic products among the consumers. 5. To identify the problem faced by the organic consumer. 6. To study and suggest measures on how the consumption of organic food can be spread wider.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Organic food promotes a balance of human, other living organisms and the nature. It also promotes no artificial preservatives and best maintain the originality of food. This prevents excess use harmful ingredients and thereby ensures health. This study attempted to gain knowledge about consumer awareness towards organic food consumption and to see whether there is any potential this might have for changing their behavior. The rationale for carrying out this study is that consideration for the environment could come only from well-informed citizens who are aware of, and fully committed to their rights to a quality health and environment. Therefore consumer's awareness and satisfaction towards organic food will be the main aim of this study.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The validity of any research is based on the systematic method of data collection and analysis. Both primary and secondary data were used for the present study. For collecting the primary data, 680sample respondents were selected from six taluks of Palakkad District by using stratified random sampling method.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1. The study was conducted in Palakkad district of Kerala. Hence, the result may not be generalized to other areas of the country. 2. The sample consists of only Limited number of consumers.
3. The study is confined to main organic food products irrespective of numerous organic products available in the market. 4. The sampling and survey method adopted in this study has its own limitations. Thus, result of the study is subject to the above limitations REVIEW OF LITERATURE "A study on consumers' awareness towards organic food products with special reference to Tirupur district (Dr. D. T. Venkatakrishnan2017)" In today's world organic food product was important for the people at large to steer a healthy life. Became a basic necessity in human life. During this paper, a shot has been created to search out the shopper's awareness towards organic food. A sample of a hundred respondents" was purposively elect from Tirupur District. The chosen samples area unit analyzed exploitation easy share, chi-square test and multivariate analysis test. It's found that 3variables particularly there exists any vital association between gender, age, qualification, monthly financial gain and client awareness towards organic food product of the respondent.

"Consumer Attitude and Purchase intension towards Organic Food (IrinSutha& Solomon T, 2016)"
the event of Organic food remains babe stage in India. it's necessary to understand regarding the patron perspective towards Organic food, supported shopper perspective model factors like shopper information, Environmental concern, personal norms, subjective norm and shopper purchase import square measure measured which permit America to seek out the patron perspective and get import on Organic food. customers disagree from one another; they have totally different concepts, taste, perception, likes and dislikes, perspective in easy term it's thought oriented , if shopper has positive thought on organic food it will produce the acquisition import. "Factors influence purchase of organic products in Nilgiri district (Mr. Sathis Kumar and Dr. E. Muthukumar, 2016)".It is known those customers in Nilgiri district gave additional importance to factors like health, environmental safety, information and culture wherever organic food was involved. However, they were indifferent towards attributes of organic food like style, color of the food etc. "The factors influencing organic food consumptions in China market (J. Thorgosen et al., 2015)".The paper according on the findings of the study into shopper perception toward beef and therefore the influence of those perceptions on consumption. The influence of attitudes and vital others (subjective norms) on intention to shopper were explored. The findings discovered that each perspective and therefore the subjective norm influenced intention to consume, however it absolutely was perspective that was found to be of bigger importance.

ORGANIC FARMING OR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
The term organic is rooted in bio from Greek bios meaning life or way of living. Organic food products was first coined in the 1940s and refers to food raised, grown and stored or processed without the use of synthetically produced chemicals or fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, Fungicides, growth hormones and regulators or generic modification. (Essoussi & Zahaf, 2008).Roddy, Cowan and Hutchinson (1994) view organic food products as a product of organic farming . Lampkin et al. (1999) thinks the term ̳ organic 'is best thought of as referring not to the type of inputs used, but to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the components -the soil, minerals, organic matter, Microorganisms, insects, plants, animals and humans -interact to create a coherent, self-regulating and stable whole. Reliance on external inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible.
Organic Farming is a certifiable farm management system with controls and traceability that is in harmony with the local environment using land husbandry techniques such as soil-Conservation measures, crop rotation and the application of agronomic, biological and manual methods instead of synthetic inputs. This is different from Traditional Farming, which is often subsistence oriented using few or no purchased inputs.
 39.4 % willing to spend on organic products when it is priced same as conventional, followed by 24.7 % are willing when it is priced ¼ higher than conventional. Thus the study revealed that most of the Consumers are willing to spend on organic food when it is priced same as conventional.  31 % pay attention seldom to information on food labels when purchasing organic products, followed by 21.6 % pay attention often, 10.9 % pay attention always. Thus the study revealed that most of the Consumers pay attention to food labels while purchasing organic food products.  87.9 % expressed that there is need for a system of verification of organic food products, where as the rest 12.1% have expressed 'no' to it. Thus the study revealed that majority of the Consumers has expressed that there is need a system of verification of organic food products..  50.1 % have said that the government is responsible for providing verification, followed by 17.6 % have said an independent certification company is needed. Thus the study revealed that majority have said that the government is responsible for providing verification.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS
 The overall mean agreeability score towards organic food products ranged from 3.09 to 3.27 and it is higher in male group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 3.27 to 3.55 and it is on par among age group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 4.05 to 4.15 and it is higher in rural group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 3.09 to 3.36 and it is higher in married group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on Job satisfaction ranged from 3.87 to 4.15 and it is higher in graduate group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 3.89 to 4.24 and it is higher in business group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 4.08 to 4.13 and it is on par among nature of family group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 4.10 to 4.10 and it is on par among family size group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on organic food products ranged from 4.07 to 4.16 and it is on par among family income group of Consumers.  among the 5 points of purchase among the Consumer, the mean score ranged from 39.12 to 74.25 and the 'Organic store' secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by 'Producer/Farmers' secured next higher mean score and stood at second, 'Generic supermarket' secured next higher mean score and stood at third .  Among the 12 factors influencing to purchase of organic food products among the Consumer, the mean score ranged from 19.79 to 79.80 and the 'Health / Nutrition value' secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by 'Taste' secured next higher mean score and stood at second, 'Price/Affordability' secured next higher mean score and stood at third  Among the 5 factors increasing the level of trust towards organic food among the Consumer, the mean score ranged from 37.25 to 80.41 and the 'Government regulation' secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by 'Scientific evidence on packaging' secured next higher mean score and stood at second, 'Celebrity endorsement' secured next higher mean score and stood at third  Among 11 agreeability scores on organic food products, the mean score ranged from 3.07 to 3.84 and the statement 'Organic food have high nutritional value 'secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by 'Consuming organic food tastes better than conventional products' secured next higher mean score and stood at second, the statement 'They are safe to consume / not contaminated' secured next higher mean score and stood at third.  Among 5 reasons for preferring organic food products, the mean score ranged from 3.86 to 4.62 and the reason 'Necessity 'secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by 'Health consciousness' secured next higher mean score and stood at second, 'Quality, authenticity and harmless' secured next higher mean score and stood at third.

SATISFACTION TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS
 Among the 10 reasons for preference towards organic food products, the mean satisfaction score ranged from 1.93 to 3.59 and the reason 'Taste 'secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed  The inter-correlation matrix showed that the independent variables namely Awareness-X1, Attitude-X2, Preference-X3, and Problems-X4, are significantly correlated with the dependent variable Y-Satisfaction.  The Path analysis showed that the three variables AWARE-X1, ATTITUDE-X2 and PROBLEM-X4 are substantially important contributing variable for the dependent variable satisfaction -Y.  The Multiple regression analysis showed that four variables Awareness-X1, Attitude-X2, Preference-X3, and Problems-X4 towards organic food products have significantly contributing to Satisfaction-Y. and these variables put together explained the variations of satisfaction-Y to the extent of 20.3 %.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE CONSUMERS
 The overall mean agreeability score on problems faced by consumers ranged from 3.87 to 4.35 and it is higher in male group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score among organic consumers ranged from 4.03 to 4.20 and it is higher in above 40 years of age group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on problems faced by organic Consumer ranged from 3.78 to 4.43 and it is higher in rural group of Consumers.  The overall mean agreeability score on problems faced by organic Consumer ranged from 4.03 to 4.26 and it is higher in unmarried group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on problems faced by organic Consumers ranged from 3.93 to 4.50 and it is higher in illiterate group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on Job satisfaction ranged from 3.64 to 4.48 and it is higher in Govt service occupation group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on problems faced among organic Consumer ranged from 3.90 to 4.29 and it is higher in nuclear family group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on problems faced by organic Consumers ranged from 4.10 to 4.13 and it is on par among family size group of Consumers.  The overall mean Agreeability score on problems faced by organic Consumers ranged from 4.02 to 4.18 and it is higher in below Rs.25,000 family income group of Consumers.  The Chi-square analysis showed that significant association between gender group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the gender group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between age group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the age group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between locations group and level of opinion on satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the location group of the Consumers..  There is significant association between age group and level of opinion on satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the marital group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between education qualification group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction independent of the education qualification group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between occupation group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the occupation group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between nature of school group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on nature of family group of the Consumers.  There is significant association between family size group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction depends on the family size group of the Consumers.  There is no significant association between annual income group and level of satisfaction on organic food products and it is concluded that the overall level of satisfaction is independent of the family income group of the Consumers