A Study on Awareness, Knowledge and Perception towards Organic Food Products among Young Consumer in Patna District

Abstract

Organic agriculture is one of the fastest growing agricultural markets in India. A growing concern among consumers for healthy diet, high nutritional compounds, confidence in food safety, environmental and animal welfare concern and also sustainability has led to a spur in the demand of healthy and safe agricultural products among consumer across the globe. The consumer's consciousness regarding the negative effects caused by conventional farming is driving them to opt for organically grown and produced products. As a consequence of this, there is an increased inclination to grow and consume organic food obtained from organic farming. Thus, in this paper, an attempt has been made to study the awareness, knowledge and perception towards organic food products among young consumer in Patna District. The main objective of this study is to measure the level of awareness towards organic food products and to assess the factors affecting consumer purchase decision towards organic food products. The sample of the study comprised of 100 youth who were selected from different areas of Patna by simple random sampling technique. A schedule questionnaire and Likert scale was used to collect the desired information. The major findings of this study revealed that majority i.e., 92% of young consumer are aware about organic food products and about 57% of consumer were of opinion that organic food grown without the use of chemical and toxic substance, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, additives and colours and are grown by using natural materials.