Organic Fruit Farming: An Empirical Analysis of Consumers’ Willingness to Pay in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

Abstract

Increase in production and Profit maximization shifted the aim of the producer to grow more in order to raise higher revenue, that resulted in a tremendous use of pesticides in apple orchards. From one side the use of pesticides has a positive effect on production, while on the other side it is has adversely affected the environment and human health.In recent decades researchers has shifted their focus towards environment friendly organic agricultural products from conventional model of industrial agriculture. This research analyzes the consumers’ willingness to pay for environment friendly organic apple in district swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan for the year 2018-19. Through a contingent valuation method (CVM) data is collected from a random sample of 160 households. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) is employed to investigate the consumers’ willingness to pay for organic apples. During the survey period the mean value of willingness to pay is estimated as Rs. 11.23 per kg. Results of the regression analysis shows that income and knowledge have greater effect on willingness to pay while, age, education and health consciousness have significant effect on willingness to pay of consumers. As it is evident from the findings of this study that high income households are aware and able to pay more for pesticides free product than the lower income households. Based on the findings of this study it is recommended that the government may subsidize costly pesticides free product and conduct awareness sessions about the negative effect of chemical on human health and environment through mass media which is most reliable source of information. It is also recommended that government should give incentives for those producers who produce pesticides free product.