Analysis of the Determinants of Adoption of Organic Horticultural Techniques in the UK

Abstract

The determinants of the decision to adopt organic production techniques are examined by applying binomial and multinomial logit techniques to a sample of 237 horticultural producers from the UK. The analysis indicates that organic horticultural producers are more likely to be younger, run smaller enterprises and be female than their conventional counterparts, and that there are significant non‐economic aspects to the decision to adopt organic techniques which may be missed in comparative profitability studies. In addition, the analysis indicates that the registered and unregistered organic producers should not be regarded as a homogenous group, with significant differences in terms of the influence of gender and information sources observed.