| Livestock Research for Rural Development 20 (2) 2008 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD News | Citation of this paper |
Organic farming an innovative area gaining importance worldwide and became a boon to the areas which are organic by default and far from the reach of green revolution technologies. Uttarakhand state in India, where most of its farming is organic by default, promoting organic farming in a systematic way through creation of special institutions like UOCB. As attitudes assist individuals in processing complex information and to make decisions, an instrument has been developed to measure attitude of organic farmers towards organic livestock farming, for which ‘Likert method of summated ratings’ was followed. A total of 102 statements were developed from the subject matter of organic animal husbandry standards, worked out by the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India (GOI), and published by the Agriculture Processed Food and Exports Development Authority (APEDA).
A total of 94 statements resulted after edition of 102 statements as per the criteria suggested by Edwards (1969), and were sent to 101 extension specialists working in various Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and State Agriculture and Veterinary Universities throughout India for the critical evaluation of statements on a 3 point continuum. Of the responses received from 50 out of 101 judges, a total of 47 statements were selected basing on relevancy weightage, percentage and mean relevancy scores, and these were subjected to item analysis by administering to 60 farmers from a non-sample area. A total of 21 statements were selected based on the‘t’ values (above 2.75) resulted from the item analysis and included in the final scale. Thus, the instrument developed to measure attitude of farmers towards organic livestock farming consists of 13 positive and 8 negative attitude statements representing the various areas of organic animal husbandry standards (NSOP, 2000) viz. sustainability, ecology, environment, animal health and welfare, animal production, certification, quality of organic products including philosophical and ideological views of organic farmers.
Key words: attitude, farmers, organic livestock farming, scale
Organic farming has gained importance worldwide, in view of increased environmental awareness, consumer preferences as well as sustainability of farm resources. Organic products, both animal and crops are increasingly attractive to farmers with high lucrative values and sales, thus, organic agriculture production and trade is rapidly expanding world over. In India, the state of Uttarakhand (770 34’ and 810 02’E longitude and 280 43’ to 310 27’ latitude) is the first state declared as organic by Government of India and Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB) has been promoting organic farming in the state through registering and encouraging farmers to take up organic farming. Due to the initiation taken by Diversified Agriculture Support Project (DASP), a World Bank funded project and continued efforts by UOCB, nearly 4,459 farmers are practicing organic farming with their mixed crop-livestock integrated farming systems. Though, animals are an essential component of organic farming, much has not been done to orient organic farmers towards organic livestock farming, unlike in crop sector, where farmers are getting premium prices for organic food products.
Attitudes are acquired through experience and exert a directive influence on subsequent behavior and moreover, help individuals to interpret new information and to make decisions more efficiently than would otherwise be the case (Baron and Byrne 1991). To promote organic animal husbandry alongside crop production which is in innovative stage, it is essential to study the attitude of farmers towards organic livestock farming, as attitude forms an essential component for better implementation and success of any innovative farming practice. Hence, in order to study the attitude of organic farmers towards organic livestock farming, a scale has been developed.
‘Likert’ method of summated ratings was followed with certain modifications and the details of the procedure in the construction and standardization of scale to measure attitude of organic farmers towards livestock farming was as followed.
The organic animal husbandry standards worked out by the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, and published by APEDA (NSOP 2000) formed the basis for the subject matter of attitude scale. Further, available literature was also taken into consideration in framing out the statements covering various aspects representing the organic livestock farming. Thus, a total of 102 statements covering various aspects of organic livestock farming were developed. These statements were carefully edited in the light of 14 criteria suggested by Edwards (1969) resulting in a total of 94 statements.
The statements selected for construction of scale were so worded as to express varying degrees of attitude towards organic livestock farming. The list of attitude statements so selected were sent to 101 exspecialists with instructions to critically evaluate the items for relevancy in including the attitude scale and to give responses on a 3 point continuum viz. ‘More relevant, relevant and least relevant’ with the score of 3, 2, and 1, respectively. The judges selected for the study comprised extension specialists of various State Veterinary and Agricultural Universities, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and Extension Education Institute (EEI). The judges were also requested to make necessary modifications and additions or deletions, if they desired so. Out of 101 judges, only 50 judges, could give response in a stipulated span of 3 months.
The responses of judges were tabulated and analyzed to work out relevancy percentages, relevancy weightage, and mean relevancy score for all statements.
It is the number of respondents who rated the statements as “most relevant” and “relevant”, which is converted into percentage.
The calculated values of RP were found in the range of 24 (minimum) to 98 (maximum) percentage.
It is the ratio of actual score obtained to the maximum possible scores obtainable by each respondent.
The calculated values of RW were found in the range of 0.48 (minimum) to 0.92 (maximum).
It is the ratio of actual score obtained by each respondent to the number of judges responded for the variable.
The calculated values of MRS were found in the range of 2.01 (minimum) and 3.76 (maximum).
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Table 1. Statements with relevancy percentage, relevancy weightage and mean relevancy scores as given by extension specialists |
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|
S.No |
Statements |
Relevancy ratings |
||
|
RP |
RW |
MRS |
||
|
1. |
I am the right kind of person to convert to organic livestock farming. |
98.00 |
0.88 |
3.52* |
|
2. |
Bio-fertilizers do maintain the soil fertility than the chemical fertilizers in the long-run. |
83.00 |
0.80 |
3.21* |
|
3. |
If I convert to organic livestock farming, it will make a difference to the environment. |
94.00 |
0.87 |
3.01* |
|
4. |
I feel that investing in conversion to organic livestock farming is of no use to farmers. |
60.00 |
0.67 |
2.02 |
|
5. |
Organic livestock farming helps to retain levels of farm land organism and birds. |
88.00 |
0.79 |
3.38* |
|
6. |
Organic livestock farming will help to save the environment for future generations |
94.00 |
0.91 |
3.74* |
|
7. |
My family will have a better quality of life in organic livestock farming compared to conventional farming. |
96.00 |
0.92 |
3.28* |
|
8. |
I will make more profit by converting to organic livestock farming. |
86.00 |
0.71 |
2.14 |
|
9. |
My livestock farm will be more sustainable through organic agriculture. |
88.00 |
0.84 |
3.31* |
|
10. |
I need to employ more labor for converting to organic livestock farming. |
34.00 |
0.48 |
2.40 |
|
11. |
The quality of organic products is better than the products from conventional livestock farming |
82.00 |
0.82 |
3.46* |
|
12. |
I will have problems in sourcing organic inputs, if I convert to organic livestock farming. |
96.00 |
0.92 |
3.76* |
|
13. |
Preventive management practices are better than curative treatment in organic livestock farming. |
92.00 |
0.87 |
3.62* |
|
14. |
I cannot manage my livestock health without allopathic medicines. |
96.00 |
0.89 |
3.54* |
|
15. |
There are more challenges in organic livestock farming compared to conventional farming |
60.00 |
0.57 |
2.72 |
|
16. |
Converting to organic livestock farming will deteriorate my socio-economic conditions. |
90.00 |
0.87 |
3.30* |
|
17. |
Feeding of livestock according to organic standards increases the risk of underfeeding and malnutrition. |
79.00 |
0.76 |
3.04* |
|
18. |
I believe that organic livestock farming is kinder to the environment. |
79.59 |
0.79 |
3.18* |
|
19. |
I am interested in organic livestock farming, because it is popular among local farmers. |
26.00 |
0.51 |
2.41 |
|
20. |
The organic livestock standards are too complicated to follow |
86.00 |
0.83 |
3.48* |
|
21. |
My farm structure is not at all suitable for organic livestock production. |
92.00 |
0.70 |
2.12 |
|
22. |
Effective management of a farmer lies in ruling out the cause of any illness or disease outbreak. |
78.00 |
0.69 |
2.08 |
|
23. |
I feel it is better to cull the diseased animal than providing treatment to it. |
72.34 |
0.74 |
2.97 |
|
24. |
I feel allopathic medicines be allowed for treating the animal when no other alternative medicine is available. |
44.89 |
0.61 |
2.43 |
|
25. |
Dehorning need to be allowed in organic livestock farming. |
50.00 |
0.61 |
2.46 |
|
26. |
Organic livestock farming gives farmers a chance to make good use of their skills. |
56.00 |
0.73 |
2.48 |
|
27. |
I can manage my livestock on preventive practices as per organic standards. |
85.10 |
0.79 |
3.13* |
|
28. |
Livestock need not be fed according to their requirement. |
62.00 |
0.55 |
2.42 |
|
29. |
Livestock should be allowed to move according to their natural behavioral pattern. |
64.00 |
0.61 |
2.84 |
|
30. |
Vaccinations are not at all required in a well managed farm. |
36.00 |
0.51 |
2.54 |
|
31. |
Conventional livestock farming is better than organic farming system. |
44.89 |
0.61 |
2.46 |
|
32. |
In organic livestock farming, farmer need not consider the well-being of animals. |
64.00 |
0.62 |
2.16 |
|
33. |
Profits are more important to farmers than welfare/well-being of livestock. |
58.00 |
0.56 |
2.08 |
|
34. |
Recycling of nutrients between plants, animals and soil is of no economical use to the farmer. |
94.00 |
0.85 |
3.56* |
|
35. |
Good human- animal relationship helps in minimizing the risk of dealing with the animals. |
24.00 |
0.61 |
2.44 |
|
36. |
There will be little/no risks to the farmer with animals in organic livestock farming. |
58.00 |
0.59 |
2.16 |
|
37. |
Organic livestock farming is of little or no value in these modern days of living. |
62.00 |
0.48 |
2.08 |
|
38. |
Certification is important to promote organic trade to assure the consumers the quality of production and processing. |
94.00 |
0.85 |
3.56* |
|
39. |
Day to day to recording of farm activities is burden to me. |
80.00 |
0.75 |
3.24* |
|
40. |
Organic livestock farming improves the lifespan of farm. |
70.00 |
0.65 |
2.06 |
|
41. |
Mutilations should not be allowed in organic farming. |
87.75 |
0.83 |
3.31* |
|
42. |
Locally adaptable and disease resistant breeds are preferable in organic farming. |
72.00 |
0.58 |
2.60 |
|
43. |
There is no farming without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. |
80.00 |
0.79 |
3.36* |
|
44. |
Organic livestock farming is nearer to traditional way of farming. |
90.00 |
0.89 |
3.38* |
|
45. |
Organic livestock farming is expensive. |
94.00 |
0.82 |
3.46* |
|
46. |
Farmer needs technical and financial assistance to convert to organic livestock farming. |
88.00 |
0.84 |
3.52* |
|
47. |
Land should be used to its maximum extent with the help of synthetic chemicals and fertilizers. |
64.00 |
0.69 |
2.08 |
|
48. |
If I think of animal welfare, I cannot do farming at all. |
88.00 |
0.76 |
3.28* |
|
49. |
I can save the input costs, if I covert to organic farming. |
64.00 |
0.63 |
2.28 |
|
50. |
Animals will have better living in organic systems than conventional raising systems. |
94.00 |
0.78 |
3.34* |
|
51. |
I can attain the optimum production levels with livestock under organic management |
94.00 |
0.82 |
3.46* |
|
52. |
Farmers who convert from conventional to organic livestock farming must convert not only their farms but also their minds. |
98.00 |
0.85 |
3.54* |
|
53. |
Organic livestock farming values are in line with the values and beliefs of farming community. |
94.00 |
0.85 |
3.04* |
|
54. |
Certification of products in organic agriculture shouldn’t be mandatory |
98.00 |
0.87 |
3.62* |
|
55. |
Future market will be more for organic products due to increasing consumer quality consciousness. |
80.00 |
0.71 |
2.12 |
|
56. |
It is better for farmers to convert to organic farming. |
96.00 |
0.84 |
3.52* |
|
57. |
Organic livestock farming is a boon to Indian farmers. |
92.00 |
0.71 |
2.12 |
|
58. |
It is very difficult to meet all the inputs required on farm itself. |
98.00 |
0.81 |
3.12* |
|
59. |
Organic livestock farming works better, when farmers operates in groups than individually. |
80.00 |
0.65 |
2.46 |
|
60. |
There should be some relaxation for usage of external inputs besides maximum usage of farm’s own resources. |
90.00 |
0.85 |
3.01* |
|
61. |
I converted to organic livestock farming due to concern towards environment. |
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