Assessing Training Needs in Organic Farming for Conventional Farmers

This research aims to assess the training needs of conventional farming workers in organic farming. It will identify the training needs, determine the relationship between age, education, and experience with training needs, and plan content for training programs to address negative perceptions towards organic farming.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Systematic review
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
Background
The process of organic farming is an important approach in the cultivation process as
it is environment friendly and at the same time helps to increase the crop yield. The use of
organic pesticides that are environmental friendly is also beneficial for the health of the
farmers. It is also regarded as a cost-effective process.
Research Aim
The aim of this research is to assess the training needs of the conventional farming workers in
organic farming
Research Objective
 To identify the training needs of the conventional farming workers
 To determine the relationship between age, educational qualification and experience
with the training needs.
Methodology
The main methodology that is used in this research is qualitative interview study with
the help of the open-ended questionnaire. The interview was conducted over 10 farmers in
rural areas of Myanmar and sample selection was done by the help of non-probability
sampling
Results and Discussion
The thematic analysis of the interview highlighted that there is increased training
needs of the farmers in the process of organic farming. The training needs of the older
farmers are higher in comparison to the younger farmers. The training needs also increases
with age and poor educational background and lack of proper training. Majority of the

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farmers are interested in undertaking the training session in order to increase their crop yield
and revenue.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................4
Background of the study........................................................................................................4
Rationale of the study.............................................................................................................5
Problem statement of the study..............................................................................................7
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................9
Research objectives................................................................................................................9
Scope and Issue of the Study.................................................................................................9
Organization of the study.....................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature review....................................................................................................11
Introduction..............................................................................................................................11
Search strategy and key- terms................................................................................................11
Discussion................................................................................................................................12
Chapter 3: Research Methodology...........................................................................................26
Research design....................................................................................................................26
Research Philosophy............................................................................................................27
Research Approach..............................................................................................................29
Research Strategy and Time Limits.....................................................................................29
Research Method..................................................................................................................29
Study and target population.................................................................................................31

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Sampling Design Strategy....................................................................................................32
Interview Development Process...........................................................................................33
Participants included in the interview..................................................................................33
Instrument Translation.........................................................................................................34
Data Analysis Strategy.........................................................................................................34
Chapter 4: Data analysis...........................................................................................................36
Introduction..........................................................................................................................36
Imparting education to farmers to increase awareness........................................................36
Relation between age and training needs.............................................................................38
Relation between educational attainment and training needs..............................................39
Relation between experience and training needs.................................................................40
Discussion............................................................................................................................42
Chapter 5: Summary of Major Findings..................................................................................46
Conclusion............................................................................................................................51
Limitations of the Study.......................................................................................................51
Recommendation..................................................................................................................52
References................................................................................................................................53
Appendix- Transcript of interviews.........................................................................................61

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Chapter 1: Introduction
Background of the study
Organic farming has gained international recognition as a more viable option for growing
crops compared to other conventional farming techniques because of utilization of many safe
farming techniques and reduction in risks for humans and animals (Willer, Lernoud and
Kemper 2018). Indiscriminate use of modern technology resulted in indiscriminate use of
fertilisers and chemicals in agriculture. It not only resulted in alteration of the ecosystem due
to hazardous nature of chemicals, but increase in risk of human hazards too (Emmerson et al.
2016). Organic farming involves practices that promotes and enhances the biological cycles
and soil biological activity. It involves minimal use of off-farm inputs so that ecological
harmony is maintained. Organic agriculture of farming can be defined as holistic production
system that excludes use of synthetic compounds like pesticides and fertilizers and uses
strategies of crop rotation, adapting biological methods of pest control and green manures to
produce crop (Ramanjaneyulu et al. 2018). Green revolution has resulted in the pathway
towards self-sufficiency in food production and adaption of organic farming technique. The
multiple benefits of organic agriculture is now seen by improvement in ecosystem services
and increasing the provision of healthier food. However, the main challenge that affects
transition from convention to organic farming includes lack of appropriate support and
identification of training needs for traditional farmers to support its expansion.
To facilitate transition from conventional to organic agricultural practices, there is a need
for development of appropriate perception and knowledge regarding organic farming among
conventional farmers. However, the organic farming has not yet achieved the desired benefit
because of lack of technical knowledge of farmers and poor support to improve farmer’s skill
in many countries. Research evidence demonstrates that variations and deficiencies exist in

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the knowledge and skills among farmers (Yadav et al. 2013). Conventional farmers do not
have positive attitude and perceptions towards organic farming technique. Panneerselvam et
al. (2012) gave the evidence that many farmer still do not have clear perceptions related to
organic farming and they have negative attitude towards organic farming. For this reason,
they are still dependent on conventional practices to control pests and diseases. As the
farmer’s training procedure and program are still underdeveloped, there is a need conduct
primary research on farmer’s perception regarding their skills in organic farming. This
research aims to develop knowledge regarding the assessment of training needs of
conventional farmers in organic farming. Research in this area would be beneficial in
planning appropriate training programs.
Rationale of the study
The justification for conducting research in the area of evaluating training needs of
conventional farmers related to organic farming is seen because of poor attitude and opinion
towards organic farming. Yadav et al. (2013) revealed that farmers are not yet comfortable in
practicing organic farming. Another research comparing the cognition, attitude and
behaviours of farmers towards organic farming revealed that conventional farmers have high
level of pesticide usage and they also have the opinion that conventional farming are
important to feed a growing world population. The farmers also had the opinion that use of
pesticides and fertilizers do not contribute to environmental harm. Instead, they had the belief
that changes in weather pattern are normal course of events. Therefore, conventional farmers
lacked eco-centric approach to environmental issues which is desired to transition to organic
farming. Compared to organic farmers, conventional farmers did not belief that organic
farming is a sustainable form of agriculture (Kings and Ilbery 2012). This study reflects that
attitude towards organic farming can have strong impact on actual behaviour. Therefore, as
poor attitude towards conventional farming has emerged, conducting interview with this

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sample group is necessary to identify barriers to adapting organic farming, assess training
need and modify existing programs accordingly.
Organic farming has emerged as sustainable way of agriculture. However, for many
middle and low income countries, traditional small scale farming remains the main structure
of farming communities. The past discussion revealed that conventional farmers have poor
attitude towards environmental harm caused due to use of fertilizers. A study evaluating
factors that influence farmer’s attitude towards organic farming revealed that farmers with
positive norms towards environment were more critical of conventional agriculture and they
have positive perception related to organic farming. However, as farmers are producers of
agricultural product, they have greater social responsibility to identify and conserve threats
to environment and human health. However, review of past studies shows that moral norm
about organic farming influence farmer’s perception toward engaging in this new and
sustainable farming technique (Malek-Saeidi, Rezaei-Moghaddam and Ajili 2012). This gives
the rationale for assessing training needs of conventional farmers. The significance of
research in this area is that it will help to design appropriate educational and training plans for
promotion of organic farming.
Tiraieyari, Hamzah and Samah (2017) claims that although organic farming provides the
option for creating a sustainable and safe environment, however low rate of adaption of
organic farming among farmers needs to be analyzed. By investigating about the factors
contributing to challenges in organic farming, the study revealed that lack of training, land
issues and dependence on foreign workers are some barriers experience by convention
farmers. The study also highlighted staff shortage and need for greater manpower as a
challenge. The review of a report on steps to successful organic transition reports that biggest
change in mindset of farmer is needed to successfully engage in organic farming. Therefore,
firstly, farmers need to have sound knowledge regarding sustainable agricultural practices

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and take interest in participating in formal and informal training events. The shift from
conventional to organic farming not only involves substituting to synthetic materials. Instead,
it also involves focus on implementing sound practices to achieve the goal of sustainable
farming (Home et al. 2016). However, the literature review shows that such mindset does not
exist and there is gap and low interest in adapting the technique. Therefore, this research
would help to explore mindset of conventional farmers and accordingly get data related to
factors creating challenges for them. This would help to identify appropriate training needs
and resources for adaption of the new technique in target setting. This would pave way for
creating realistic goals and transition plan and equipping farmers with appropriate tools and
resource to understand soil suitability and ways to design good crop rotations too.
Tuomisto et al. (2012) cites that organic farming is challenged by several factors like
supply chain development, productivity limitations and regional adaptation. Knowledge is an
important component of human behaviour and it plays a major role in modifying behaviour of
individuals. Training acts as an important intervention by which knowledge and skills of
client can be changed. Therefore, as literature review shows gaps in knowledge, skills and
attitude towards organic farming among conventional farmers, this justifies the rationale for
conducting research on the assessment of training needs of this sample group. By conducting
interview with conventional farmers, the study would help to understand the barriers faced by
farmer in adapting organic farming, identify training needs and plan appropriate training
content to realize full benefits of conventional farming.
Problem statement of the study
This research aims to address to major problems in the field of agriculture. These two
problems include reducing adverse environmental impact of conventional farming techniques
and addressing poor attitude and perception of conventional farmers towards organic farming.
Traditional farming focus on increasing yield of crops by more frequent use of fertilizers,

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promoting mechanization during crop harvesting and using pesticides. However, these
practices are associated with depletion of natural resource, adverse harm to the environment
and degradation of the quality of crops. It contributes to air, water and health hazards and
deterioration in the quality of soils (Meier et al., 2015). For example, there are evidence
regarding achieving high yields with fertilizers but increase in contamination of ground
water. In U.S. soil fumigants were used to accelerate crop production. However, this has been
identified to be a contributor of ozone depletion. The above discussion shows how
convention farming contributes to environment and health hazards. In contrast, organic
farming plays a role in excluding excessive use of fertilizers and relied on other strategies
like crop rotation and green manure to maintain soil productivity. This implies the need to
shift from conventional farming technique to organic farming technique. However, the
problem that has been found is that farmers face challenges during such transition and they
do not will to make such shift because of many change in the farming procedure. For
example, past evidence indicates that farmers lacked proper guideline regarding organic
system and restoring organic carbon level in soil. In addition, uncertainty regarding
equipment changes and coping with extra stubble for seed further increases challenges for the
farmers (Reganold and Wachter 2016). Therefore, the research aims to interview farmers to
know about the perception and attitude towards organic farming. This will help to address the
problem of poor perception and uncertainty surrounding transition to organic farming.
Currently, gap in beginning farmers training program has been seen too. With the
international recognition and demand for organic farming, there was a need for establishment
of best farmer educational programs. However, meaningful education for beginning farmers
interested in sustainable food systems is challenged by limitation of current educational
programs in reducing gap between knowledge construction and wider social structures
influencing food system and agricultural practices (Niewolny and Lillard 2010). Therefore,

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this research is an effort to address the issue of poor development in educational programs
related to organic farming and engage in collaborative efforts to involved conventional
farmers and understand their perceptive regarding organic farming and challenges in adapting
skills to promote sustainable agriculture. Some contextual issue particularly found for
Myanmar is that eco-farming and organic agriculture is not well-documented for this region.
Hence, focussing on collecting data related to perception and attitudes towards organic
farming can play a role in understanding situational barriers for conventional farmers and
developing tailor made programs for conventional farmers.
Research Aim
The main aim of this research is to assess the training needs of the conventional farming
workers in organic farming.
Research objectives
The research aims to achieve the following research objectives:
 To identify the training needs of the conventional farming workers
 To determine the relationship between age, educational qualification and experience
with the training needs.
 To plan content for training programs and address negative perception towards
organic farming technique among traditional farmers
Scope and Issue of the Study
Research in the area of identification of training needs related to organic farming for
conventional farmers had a wide scope. The data gained from this study is likely to have
implications on major developments in the agricultural sector and key training programs for
farmer development. It will help in establishing support mechanism for wider acceptance of
organic farming technique and facilitating implementation of useful steps to address barriers

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experience during organic farming. The research is focussed on addressing the issue of poor
utilization of organic farming technique in community and poor perception towards use of
organic farming to promote health and sustainable environment. Hence, data gained from this
research is likely to pave the way for increasing attitude and behaviour towards sustainable
farming and taking interest in adapting required skills to engage in organic farming.
Organization of the study
Based on the discussion of rationale and problem statement for research, the main aim of
this research is to gain knowledge regarding assessment of training needs for conventional
farmers to transition to organic farming. The research paper gives discussion regarding
literature review on the topic and identifies gaps and loopholes to plan appropriate research
design. The paper will give details related to the research methodology including description
of research design, sampling technique, data collection and data analysis methods. The
chapter four will give regarding analysis of study findings and evaluation of significance of
research outcomes. The final chapter will focus on providing a brief summary of findings
followed by discussion of limitations and recommendations for improvement or application
in target setting.

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Chapter 2: Literature review
Introduction
Literature review is a critical and most important section of any dissertation as
through this, researchers are able to collect evidence based articles so that understanding
about the past research works regarding the research question could be developed. Further, it
should also be mentioned that literature review helps to develop an insight into the research
studies available that are present in a specific area of interest and eventually would help the
researcher to develop a guideline to develop accurate path for the conduction of the research
work. Hence, evidence based articles collected in literature review, helps to shape the
research findings.
Search strategy and key- terms
Search strategy is the procedure which is used by the researchers to search the popular
electronic databases with some effective keywords so that relevant and accurate research
articles could be retrieved. In this research process, researchers also conducted a systematic
search in which popular science electronic databases such as Pub Med, CINAHL, Medline
and Google Scholar and then implemented the keywords selected for the systematic search.
After obtaining a certain number of research articles, inclusion and exclusion criteria was
implemented so that refining of the selected search strategy could lead to selection of
accurate and relevant search studies and then an accurate analysis could be conducted.
Furthermore, key terms could be defined as short or condensed phrases which is used
in the searching of the electronic databases to collect recent literature articles. key terms used
for this systematic search process were “ Organic Farming’, “conventional farming”,
“Organic foods”, “farmers and organic farming” which were used in permutation and
combination with usage of Boolean operators “AND”, “OR”, “NOT”. As mentioned by (),

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usage of Boolean operators in systematic search helps to refine the search process and the
final result becomes more accurate.
Discussion
Organic farming is one such aspect in farming industry, which is supported by the
government and if the data collected from Office of the National Statistics (2017) is
observed, it would be easier to identify that UK, the government promotes organic farming.
As mentioned in the statistics provided by the Office of the National Statistics (2017), the
government provided more than 500 hectares of land in UK whereas 64% of land is
accounted for the permanent grassland for the organic farming in UK. Therefore, it is
important for the promotion of organic farming, the farmers should be provided with
knowledge about the farming process. Therefore, to make the organic farmers aware of the
farming methods and identifying their training needs, the collected research articles from the
systematic search would be analysed.
Education and training is one such aspect which should be included in the agricultural
literacy sessions of farmers that are intended to conduct organic farming process as Niewolny
and Lillard (2016) found similar result while analysing the expansion of the boundaries
related to the beginning of the farmer training and program development process. The
researchers found that providing agricultural education to all the farmers that practices their
traditional method of farming would able to develop a new and developed procedure so that
sustainable development of farming techniques could be achieved. As mentioned by the
researchers, it is a progressive opportunity for the farmers so that generating and exchanging
the new techniques and ideas could help to develop new opportunities of practices for the
farmers practicing the new farming process (Niewolny and Lillard 2016). Further, it was
mentioned in the paper that very minimal research has been conducted to identify the ways
using which the farmers using the organic farming approach could be provided with

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interventions so that they could become aware of the idea farming and food system
(Niewolny and Lillard 2016). The research conducted by Niewolny and Lillard (2016) was
able to identify the fact that organic farming approach is used by the majority of the farmers
could only be developed after a proper training process. Hence, it is important for the farmers
that are transitioning their scope of practice from traditional farming process, to organic
farming process should be provided with effective training and education prior to attempt the
farming approach. As per the needs assessment carried out it can be said that in most of the
cases the farmers were not aware of the environmental effects that the chemical fertiliser
possess. This lead to the identification of the accurate means using which the accurate
interventions could be provided to the farmers that would be using this technique in their
farming approach.
Similar results and ideologies were observed in the research conducted by Ngo and
Brklacich (2014) to understand the abilities of the farmers that are experiencing the urban and
rural migration process and the way they become aware of the new farming techniques and
nuances despite of the major change in their practice environment. for this process, the
researchers conducted a ethnographic study in Canada during year 2009 and the aim of this
study was to sense the new farmers ability to understand the construction and the processes
that would be requiring in the new farming place where they would practice the organic
farming approaches (Ngo and Brklacich 2014). The primal finding of this research was found
to be the ability of the nursing professionals to understand the landscape and the strategies
that they should undertake so that they could undertake their organic farming process with
their physical and social sensing abilities and socio-spatial dynamics that could only be
developed, if the farmers are provided with educational and training sessions (Ngo and
Brklacich 2014).

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Another researcher understood the importance of educational and training sessions for
the new or beginner farmers so that they could understand the basic aspects of organic or
traditional farming approach and with scientific knowledge could increase their productivity.
As mentioned by Bailey (2013), the primary aim of the paper was to analyse the needs and
requirements, drivers or preferences of the organic farmers that are new to this field and then
determine their educational and training session so that educational program for those farmers
could be developed. The researchers conducted a focus group analysis by selecting the
younger famers of Montana that are beginning their farming career with organic farming
method. After conduction of the complete study, four primary need and requirements of the
beginner farmers were observed such as agricultural business and management skills, legal
aspect of knowledge, communication related skills, and skills related to the production
technologies (Bailey 2013). Further, as mentioned in the paper, it was clearly mentioned by
the researchers that agriculture educators and programmers should be able to take be able to
understand and undertake the educational requirements as well as preferences of the amateur
farmers that are starting their career with organic farming technique and these aspects should
be undertook while planning their educational and training sessions (Bailey 2013). Besides
this, it was also mentioned in the paper that the barriers and limitations present in their
educational and training process should be eliminated by the positive elements of the training
process and these needs should be addressed in proper and accurate environment so that
interaction and networking among the farmers could be developed and they can overcome
their limitation with the help of each other (Bailey 2013). Therefore, this paper by () took the
research question to a higher tangent and identified the need of the farmers so that they can
develop comprehensive and impactful farming knowledge to conduct organic farming on
their own.

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Besides this, researchers Panneerselvam et al. (2012) conducted a study to understand
the level of knowledge and understanding of the organic farmers of India about the organic
farming process so that their understanding of benefits related to farming procedure could be
easily understood. To conduct the research process effectively, the researchers collected 40
farmers from the farming prone states of India, namely the West-Bengal, Tamil Nadu,
Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand and then implemented the research methodology so that
their understanding regarding the organic farming procedure could be easily understood. It
was seen that due to the fact that the organic farming has a limited amount of exposure in the
Indian market, comparison of conventional and organic farming procedure was effectively
achieved in this research article. Further, it was also observed that this lack of proper
exposure and market share has increased the gap among the farmers regarding this organic
farming technique and awareness of the farmers in organic farming has also been affected. As
mentioned by Panneerselvam et al. (2012), lack of market share is one of the critical aspect
due to which farmers are not encouraged to take the new and unconventional farming process
in their farm lands and hence this decreases their ability to adapt to the new farming
procedure. Besides this, multiple barriers were also identified in the research articles such as
lack of institutional support, reduction in the level overall production due to which people
that are adapting this new farming technique, are unable to completely adapt to the organic
farming procedure.
Further as mentioned by the researchers Panneerselvam et al. (2012) organic farming
process is a process due to which the production of the farmers decreased and hence, this was
the primary aspects that the farmers were unaware about production or the yield and hence
after the first few lower production or yield they start quitting the organic farming process.
Hence, as mentioned by the researchers, decrease in the level of adaptation of the procedure
of organic farming among the farmers has been identified as one of the critical aspects due to

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which they are forced to quit this farming method and hence in such condition, they should
be provided with governmental support and so that lead to increase in the adaptation of the
organic farming among the new and beginner farmers could be achieved (Panneerselvam et
al. 2012).
Hence, from the above mentioned study, it was clearly identified that the application
of educational and training processes could increase the ability of the farmers to adapt the
new farming method and increase their productivity with time. However, the means using
which this increase could be achieved were not mentioned in the paper, and hence, it is
important for the researchers to identify the means using which this education could be
spread among the farmers conducting organic farming in their farm lands. In such conditions,
the research of Nazari and Hassan (2011) should be addressed as the primary purpose of the
research was to evaluate the role of television as the primary tool of education among the
farmers to enhance their knowledge about the organic farming procedure. In this study, the
researchers conducted a randomized process with pretest-posttest design among farmers that
are working and farming in Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad province of Iran. All the
participants of this researchers were analyzed for their type of farming process and after that
all the similar farming goals were selected for the analysis so that people could be provided
with effective accurate research findings of this process. To analyze their knowledge, the
farmers were provided with a questionnaire that was designed as pre and post test
questionnaire for the study (Nazari and Hassan 2011).
Further a TV program was produced similar to their organic farming approach and
after the conduction of the process, it was seen that all the education related to the emphasis
on fighting against agricultural pests, and correct method of using agricultural poisons were
provided to the farmers or not. After conduction of the TV program, the questionnaire of post
method was provided to the farmers and hence, it was seen that after watching the TV

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broadcasting about organic farming method, the farmers were able to answer 80% of the
answer correctly and hence, it was seen that usage of TV broadcasts is an effective mean to
spread the educational and training needs of the organic farming techniques among both new
and experienced farmers (Nazari and Hassan 2011). Hence it was observed that mass media
offers effective and accurate channels for the communication process of agricultural
messages that have the ability to increase the knowledge of the farmers as well as influence
their behavior of audience members (Nazari and Hassan 2011).
Therefore, from above mentioned papers, it was easily understood that the educational
and training needs of the farmers are effectively managed and usage of television educational
needs could easily identify the aspects that could make the training process effective and
increase the adaptation ability of the farmers working in the way of organic farming process.
However, to conduct the process, farmers should implement change management approach so
that their transition from traditional farming method to the organic farming method could be
easily obtained. This aspect was observed by the researchers Sutherland et al. (2012) as the
primary aim of the paper was to study the change management process that is required to be
undertaken in order to implement the practice of the organic farming among the farmers who
mainly practice conventional farming. This was an important study to conduct as with this,
the researchers would be able to conduct the process effectively and they would be able to
understand the process which is responsible for the conduction of this process (Sutherland et
al. 2012). Hence, due to this aspect, the authors mainly highlighted boarder conceptualization
of the major learning needs of the organic farming among the farmers. For this purpose, from
the analysis, the researchers were able to make the process effective and they were able to
highlight the fact that the major change management principle under any farming bodies is
limited to their path dependencies and increase in their own level of knowledge as well as
lock-in is important to amplify the overall adaptation process of the organic farming method

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among the farmers associated with the conventional farming. Hence, it was also mentioned
that this can be achieve through education and learned experiences (Sutherland et al. 2012).
Further, it was also mentioned that education or literacy should be followed by active
assessment and evaluation method of the new processes that are triggered by a period of
consolidation before the complete change management process is implemented. Hence, it was
seen that the intervention might be most effective in order to trigger events in the change
process (Sutherland et al. 2012). To comply with the process, the researchers concluded that
due to the presence of “path dependency” in the process related to the organic farming, the
maximum change in the farming practice would take place in response of the trigger events
after which the managers of the farm will intensify their consolidation in organic farming.
The main strength of the study is, it is based on qualitative interview among the conventional
and the organic farming farmers. However, the limitation of the study s it is based on the two
English case studies and no direct interview was conducted (Sutherland et al. 2012).
Sutherland and Darnhofer (2012) conducted a research on good and healthy practices
that are ideal for the environment. The researchers conducted an e empirical study that
focused on the transition from conventional methods of farming to organic farming. The
research study also helped in formulating an understanding about the mechanism in which
changes occur within good farming practices. At the same time the research also helped in
estimating the implication of the changed farming practices. As stated by Sutherland and
Darnhofer (2012), a large number of farmers believe that the concept of organic farming is a
‘joke’ and is not a method of effective farming practice. In addition to this, most of the
farmers also believe that farming practices without the use of chemical fertilizers is
impossible and would not help in a good harvest. The researchers in this paper adapted a semi
structured interview as the research design to conduct an interview with the recruited farmers.
Upon analyzing the interview responses, the findings of the research study suggested that

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most of the farmers believed that organic farming was heavily expensive and was associated
with high failure rate. It can be mentioned here in this case that the perception of the farmers
might be on account of lack of training and awareness in relation to the positive impact of
organic farming and its benefit to the environment. The sample size however considered by
the researchers was too less to generalize the results.
This can be treated as a major limitation of the research study. Another research
conducted by Tirayari et al. (2017) focused on the fact that despite the positive impact of
organic farming on the environment, the adaption of the organic farming practices remains
poor. The paper revealed a summary of findings that clearly stated the main cause that led to
the lack of interest among farmers in relation to organic farming practices. The findings of
the research study suggested that the primary issue experienced by farmers that contribute to
the poor acceptance of the organic farming practices include land issue. Farmers who do not
have their own piece of land for the purpose of cultivation state that this is one of the main
issues why they are unable to shift to organic farming practices. The second factor that has
led to the poor acceptance of organic farming practice among the farmers involve the issue of
shortage of labor. As stated by Wollni and Andersson (2014), shortage of labor in agriculture
and farming is one of the key area of challenges across the developing nations. Farmers
usually depend on external laborers for the purpose of cultivation and harvesting which is
basically due to the shortage of internal and social labor (Palaniappan and Annadurai 2018;
Lim et al. 2015).
As per the findings of Tirayari et al. (2017), the activities of organic farming require
an extensive set of manpower against conventional farming methods as most of the activities
need to be addressed manually. It should be noted in this context that on account of shortage
of external laborers due to limited financial investments, the concept of organic farming is
not popular among most of the farmers. Another reason for the reduced acceptance of the

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principles of organic farming includes lack of awareness and education in relation to the
positive impact of organic farming on the health of the people as well as the environment. In
addition to this, lack of training as well as lack of training opportunities in relation to organic
farming has also reduced the acceptance of organic farming practices (Pattanapant and
Shivakoti 2013; Reganold and Watcher 2016; Henneron et al. 2015).
As stated by Kelemen et al. (2013), organic farming can be compared to agricultural
revolution as it has helped in the promotion of the sustainable agriculture concepts. Also,
Tirayari et al. (2017), stated that the concept of organic farming in Malaysia could help in
fostering a sustainable environment. Further, the research conducted by Tirayari et al. (2017)
also helped in the evaluating the fact that small scale farmers do not have any exposure in
relation to education and awareness about organic farming. The exchange of information is
mainly through print media or conversations with acquaintances. This suggests that there is a
need for the Malaysian government to adapt measures and initiate organic farming programs
for creating awareness and empowering the farmers about the concept of organic farming.
Another research study conducted by Yadav et al. (2013) intended to evaluate the training
needs of the farmers in relation to organic farming context. The research study helped in
evaluating the necessity of training needs in relation to demographic factors such as age,
professional experience and educational qualification.
Yadav et al. (2013) adapted an exploratory research design in order to conduct the
research and the research was conducted in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. The
researcher considered a sample size of 65 extension officers who were recruited randomly
from 12 different districts of the state of Himachal Pradesh. The researcher relied upon the
self-reported training need of the participants. The researchers focused majorly upon 10
different needs of organic farming practices so as to analyze the results. The different needs
included the parameters of vermin-composting, use of green manure, use of bio fertilizers,

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use of the crop rotation technique, use of the bio-dynamic farming methods as well as
processes such as record keeping, regulation of certification standards as well as packaging as
well as marketing of the organic goods. Typically, the findings of the research study did not
indicate the existence of an underlying relationship between the demographic factors
considered which included the age, educational qualification and experience and the training
needs. The overall conclusion of the researchers suggested that in order to improve the
knowledge of the farmers in relation to organic farming, it was important to impart training
emphasizing on the seven areas mentioned. One of the limitation of the research study can be
mentioned as the choice of sample size as the farmers of Himachal Pradesh work in harsh
climatic environment which is strikingly different from the rest of the world. Also, the
research was hugely based upon the experience of the farmers with respect to the year 2011,
however, as stated by Tuck et al. (2014), the knowledge and experience of farming practices
has significantly improved since the year 2011. Therefore, it can be mentioned that the
education and training needs of the farmers might vary significantly.
Another research study conducted by Lapple and Kelley (2013), examined the factors
that affected the decision making of the Irish farmers who transitioned to organic farming
practices from conventional farming methods. The transition was made possible by the
application of the theory of planned behavior control for technical constraints as well as
social influence. The researchers made use of cluster analysis and principal component
analysis for the purpose of maintaining sample heterogeneity (Lapple and Kelley 2013). The
overall results of the research study suggested that a number of factors such as the impact of
economic incentives, variance of technical barriers as well as social constraints impact the
uptake of organic farming practices among the farmers (Lapple and Kelley 2013). In addition
to this, one of the key findings of the research suggested that policy incentives based upon the
subsidy payments is an inefficient measure to improve the uptake of organic farming by the

22DISSERTATION
farmers in association with the social as well as the technical barriers (Lapple and Kelley
2013).
Another research conducted by Marsh et al. (2016), stated that gaps in relation to
knowledge about organic farming practices posed a challenge for the stakeholders to uptake
the principle of organic farming within the Delmarva Peninsula within the United States of
America. The researchers conducted a survey that involved the limited resource farmers and
non-farmers within the region as well as the neighboring countries. The survey typically
evaluated the knowledge, practices, needs and perception of the participants in relation to
organic farming. It should be noted in this context that most of the respondents of the survey
included farmers who were engaged in both conventional as well as organic farming
techniques. Also, 30% of the farmers who participated in the survey were engaged in both
conventional and organic farming methods (Marsh et al. 2016). On the other hand, 10% of
the participants were only engaged in the conventional farming methods. The organic
products that were grown comprised of fruits, vegetables and herbs. On analyzing the
retrieved survey responses, it was seen that approximately 60% of the farmers had a fair
knowledge about the organic farming practices, marketing as well as production costs.
However, it was also seen that approximately 50% of the participants has no knowledge
about organic farming and were not aware about certified organic products (Marsh et al.
2016).
Further, the survey results also stated that lack of time as well as the length of time
required to be certified for organic farming practices were the main reasons why farmers did
not prefer transitioning to the organic farming methods. However, it is important to note here
that both the farmers as well as the non-farmers agreed to the fact that organic crops were
safer and of superior quality and that accounted for higher pricing. In addition to this, a
significant proportion of the participants wanted to transition to organic farming practices,

23DISSERTATION
but were unaware about the relevant information and resources that could help in the process
of transition.
Bravo-Monroy, Potts and Tzanapoulos (2016) conducted a research study in order to
assess the factors that helped in influencing farmer decisions for the adaption of organic
farming practices over convention farming practices for the plantation of coffee. The
researchers made use of a combination of ethnographic techniques as well as quantitative
methods in order to examine the factors that affected the decision making of the farmers who
were engaged in coffee plantation in Colombia. Precisely, the qualitative results suggested
that the personal identity of the farmers, the existence and availability of the farming spaces,
the influence of the coffee institutions as well as the social relations of production and
attitude and management practices in relation to coffee plantation influenced the decision
making practices of the farmers (Bravo-Monroy, Potts and Tzanapoulos 2016). The
quantitative parameters suggested the critical interplay of a total of 18 socio-economic
drivers, out of which some had interacting effects that significantly influenced the decision
making power of the farmers to chose organic farming over conventional farming practices or
vice-versa (Bravo-Monroy, Potts and Tzanapoulos 2016). The results stated that at the local
level, the important factors comprise of availability of technology, role of the institutions,
formal education of the farmers, the type of landowners as well as membership of the
different community organizations. In addition to this, other factors such as the size of the
farms, coffee production and the number of coffee plots located at each farm were also
important factors that affected the decision making power of the farmers to opt for the
organic farming process.
Further, a number of economic factors such as the profitability in relation to the crop
production also impacted the decision making process. In other words, it can be mentioned
that the overall findings of this research study mentioned that the decision making process of

24DISSERTATION
the farmers engaged in coffee plantation at Columbia to transition to organic farming
practices was heavily influenced by both qualitative and quantitative parameters (Bravo-
Monroy, Potts and Tzanapoulos 2016). Therefore, there is an increased need to adapt an
integrated approach so as to address the concerns of the farmers with respect to both the
quantitative and qualitative parameters and improve the uptake of organic farming practices.
According to Surekha et al. (2013), organic farming is a safer farming method in
order to sustain and conserve the environment. The researchers conducted field studies for a
total of 5 years from 2004/5 to 2009/10 on black clayey vertisol soil at the Directorate of Rice
research at Hyderabad, India. The researchers typically assessed the impact of organic and
conventional methods of farming practices on the parameters of productivity, economic
return, soil health as well as grain quality. The findings of the research study suggested that
organic farming practices helped in the moderate improvement of soil quality indices. Also,
the sustainable quality of the soil was recorded to be maximum with the use of organics
which was equivalent to 1.63 as opposed to the inorganics which was equivalent to 1.33 after
the completion of 5 years of study (Surekha et al. 2013). Also, the soil organic stocks were
higher equivalent to 44% against 35% when compared to conventional method of farming in
the wet and dry seasons (Surekha et al. 2013). Also, the carbon sequestration rate was
positive with the organics as opposed to the conventional method of farming. Also, the
benefit to cost ratio was less with organics in the initial years and improved at the end of the
fifth year with the use of inorganics. Therefore, it can be stated in this context that organic
farming greatly improves soil texture and is a safer method in terms of sustainability and
environment conservation.
Research Gap:

25DISSERTATION
Therefore, on the basis of the scholarly literatures, included in the review it was found
that organic farming method is a safer method as it helps in improving the soil texture and at
the same time also contributed positively to the areas of sustainability and environment
conservation. In addition to this, the research papers included in the review also highlighted
the key areas that served as barriers to the acceptance of the organic farming methods over
the conventional farming methods. However, a research gap has been identified in terms of
recognizing the appropriate training needs of the conventional farmers to accept and
transition to the organic farming methods. In addition to this, a gap was also identified in
terms of evaluating the relationship between age, educational qualification as well as
experience with the specific training needs of the conventional farmers. Therefore, this
research study focuses upon the evaluation of the specific training needs of the conventional
farmers to adapt organic farming practice.
Literature Summary:
Therefore, to summarize, it can be stated that as per Surekha et al. (2013), it has been
mentioned that organic farming is a safer farming practice and it helps in the improvement of
soil structure and promotes sustainability and conservation of the environment. However, a
number of research studies suggested that qualitative factors such as lack of education and
awareness in relation to organic farming as well as insecurities such as additional investment
and quantitative factors such as lack of time as well as limited labor supply to handle the
manual activities in organic farming has led to the decline of acceptance of organic farming
practices. In addition to this, research studies also suggests that lack of training opportunities,
land availability, attitude of land owners as well as lack of adequate resources has also led to
the decline of acceptance of organic farming techniques by the farmers (Pattanapant and
Shivakoti 2013; Reganold and Watcher 2016; Henneron et al. 2015). In addition to this,
economic constraints in relation to financing man power as well as purchase of organic

26DISSERTATION
resources also serve as barriers that lead to the reduced acceptance of organic farming
technique. However, research studies also mentioned that in recent time a significant
proportion of the conventional farmers were willing to shift to organic farming practices but
encountered barriers in the form of extended time for acquiring the certification as well as
lack of appropriate training and guiding support (Palaniappan and Annadurai 2018; Lim et al.
2015).

27DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
The issue discussed in the research methodology is crucial for any study. Research
methodology is defined as the procedure of gathering important and relevant data that
supports the research question of the study which is easily tackled and support the nature of
gathered research evidence. According to Sekaran and Bougie (2016), business research is
defined in precise as planned, organized, critical, data-based, specific scientific analysis
involved in an explicit problem, commenced with an objective to achieve an appropriate
solution. Different arguments were observed regarding the concept of methodology, which is
defined as the body of information that permits the researchers to define and evaluate
methods involved in any particular study. According to Cooper and Schindler (2006),
management research might include studies which are reporting, descriptive, or predictive.
Saunders et al. (2007), defined management research as a method through which an
individual try to absorb the knowledge in more systemic method to enhance their independent
knowledge.
The primary aim of this research is to assess the training needs of the conventional
farming workers in organic farming and impart effective education to the farmers in order to
increase awareness regarding organic farming. The paper will represent the methodology
used in the study that includes research design, target population, sample and sampling
procedure (Crowther and Lancaster 2012). Data analysis and data collection methods are also
explained in this study where qualitative interview method is used. 8 open-ended
questionnaire is used for evaluating the result of the study conducted with 10 farmers.
Research design
The significant importance of research design is to determine the critical association
between the arguments and the theories which will direct the research and collected empirical

28DISSERTATION
data. According to Diamantopoulos et al. (2012), research design offers direction for
gathering and evaluating the data involved in the particular study. According to Saunders et
al. (), the complete research procedure can be denoted in the form of onion that consists of
several approaches and layers that should be regularly used while conducting the research.
According to the concept of research onion, several issues are considered that must be
highlighted prior to the essential point of an onion, data analysis and data collection
procedure is also addressed. The multiple layers of research onion is explained in figure 1
that includes philosophies, methodologies, approaches, choice, time limits, and procedures.
Figure 1: Extracted from Saunders et al. (2009, p.108)
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is considered as a belief regarding the assortment, interpretation,
and evaluation of the collected data (Levin 2008). It is included in the first layer of a research
inion and is considered as the most significant part. The researchers use this research
philosophy part in the study in order to reveal an important hypothesis made by them

29DISSERTATION
concerning their individual views and opinions. This strategy will help them to relate to the
aim of the study along with their philosophy including their specific opinion and view
concerned with the concept organic farming and the need to educate the farmers on the same
(Simpson 2009).
Different philosophies are included in this research onion, where the principal
perspective is related to axiology, epistemology and ontology. Every philosophy of the
researchers is backed up with different philosophies such as realism, positivism, pragmatism
and interpretivism. These mentioned philosophies influence the researcher’s method to think
regarding the research procedure. In this research study, pragmatist view is considered that
will allow the researcher to explore the necessity of training among the farmers to adapt the
method of organic farming other than conventional framing method. According to Simpson
(2009), pragmatism is used for accounting the live experiences and portion of history
included in social science. The concept of pragmatism claims that the significant determinant
of epistemology, axiology and ontology implemented in the study is present in the proposed
research question. Hence, it can assumed that research objective and questions are the crucial
factors included in the research philosophy. Hence, it is claimed that qualitative method can
be used in this particular study. According to Creswell and Creswell (2017), it is crucial for
the researcher to focus on the research problem instead of research method and determine
approaches that will help them to understand and recognize the problem. According to Harter
(2007), pragmatism is related to different relationships between phenomena and things,
precisely among experiences and consequences. Hence, pragmatism is identified as the most
appropriate framework to assess the need of training among farmers related to organic
farming.

30DISSERTATION
Research Approach
Research approach is included in the second layer of the research onion, where it is
divided in two different approach namely deductive and inductive approach (Saunders 2011).
Deductive approaches utilise literature review in order to recognize the ideas and theories that
will be used by the researcher to carry out the test available from the data. Whereas, inductive
approaches includes collection of data and evolution of theory that is based on the data
analysis result. This research study focuses on the concept of theory testing because theory
was initially accepted as the agenda for evolving and analysing hypotheses according to the
specific research perspective (Saunders 2011). The present study focuses on deductive
orientation.
Research Strategy and Time Limits
Research approach and time limit is included in the third layer of the research onion,
where the primary concern is if the present study will be included as exploratory, descriptive
or causal (Saunders 2011). Deductive orientation is included as the research approach for this
study that is responsible for collecting relevant data from a good-sized population
proficiently. This study will use the survey strategy as it is generally linked with deductive
approach. Deductive approach is considered as a widespread and common approach in the
field of management and business research that is and commonly used for response on who,
how much, where, how many and what (Saunders 2011).Therefore, it is assumed that in this
particular study the cross-sectional ‘snapshot’ descriptive survey is appropriately fit and used.
Research Method
The literature classifies different research methods as quantitative method, qualitative
method and mixed methods (Collis and Hussey 2013). Identification of the most appropriate
research method depends on various aspects like research objective, questions and subject. It
is assumed that the research study fluctuate from one method to another method and each

31DISSERTATION
individual study incorporates its individual objective that must be handled in an appropriate
manner. Hence, it is crucial to identify the suitable research methods in order to accomplish
the purposes and goals of the research (Punch 2003). Currently, management research
involves novel techniques for analysing the research problems and data in order to
demonstrate and simplify social phenomena due to increasing complexity and difficulty
(Jogulu and Pansiri 2011).
Quantitative design method normally elaborates and explain factors like sample size,
data collection techniques, categories of data that has to be gathered, recruitment and
sampling techniques, analysis plan and data management. According to Casey and Houghton
(2010), quantitative method is suitable when specific d association among variables has to be
measured. In this particular study, quantitative method is not used as the identification of
relationship between farmers and the concept of organic farming was not required.
Qualitative research method is mostly confirmatory that is widely accepted and used
in this type of research study. According to Olds et al. (2005) qualitative research method is
defined as the method that is used to gather and check the recorded data like surveys, focus
groups, interviews, observation and conversational analysis. According to Creswell and
Creswell (2017), qualitative method is primarily used to determine problem that is related
with the interviews of obtaining the farmers views, perceptions and attitude. According to
DiCicco‐ Bloom and Crabtree (2006), qualitative research is established on the significances
that life practices embrace for interviewees (farmers). Hence, qualitative method is used to
acquire a detailed description from the interviewees established on their individual
experience and understanding of their knowledge on organic farming and to what extent of
individual training is required by each involved farmers to obtain sufficient information on
the concept of organic farming.

32DISSERTATION
Mixed method approach includes both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to
gather and evaluate data (53). According to Sandelowski (2003), mixed-method research
design is defined as the mixture of probability and focussed sampling, close-ended and open-
ended data collection methods and multivariable and descriptive analysis that can together
use everything. The primary purpose of qualitative method is description and exploration
however the primary purpose of quantitative method is explanation and description (Johnson
and Christensen 2008). Various researchers have declared that the primary objective of
mixed-method approach is to acquire an inclusive knowledge of considered model and
establish the weakness observed from the quantitative method (Creswell and Creswell 2017).
Hence, according to the established research objective and questions for this particular
study, qualitative research method is considered as the most suitable approach as the study
involves open-ended questionnaire method that is included under qualitative survey and this
method will help the researcher to understand the perspective of the farmers who are included
in the survey and their knowledge on organic farming method. The individual knowledge and
understanding of the farmers will help the researcher to determine the level of training that is
required by the farmers to adopt the method of organic farming and exclude the use of
conventional farming practice.
Study and target population
Population is well-defined as the comprehensive quantity of different components like
organizations, entities, or objects, which are selected for measurement as study sample
(Parahoo 2006). It is claimed that whatever kind of research design methods are used either
qualitative or quantitative for data analysis and collection, the investigators will unavoidably
face problems in seeking assistance from everyone involved in the study, present in every
places, and doing every activity (Al-Zefeiti and Mohammad 2015). Hence, observing the
above issue, the researchers have claimed to include identification of the sample in the study

33DISSERTATION
and later simplify the outcomes based on the entire population. In this study, non-randomized
sampling method was used, were 10 farmers were selected from the outskirt regions of
Myanmar village and to be more precise majority of rice farmers were used and were
considered as the target population. The inclusion criterion data used in this study were the
farmers present in the outskirt regions of Myanmar, who follows conventional method of
farming and had limited understanding and knowledge of the benefits of organic farming. 10
farmers were purposefully selected and majority were rice farmers.
Sampling Design Strategy
Sampling is defined as the collection of subgroup of total quantity of cases involved
in the study that will permit the researcher to extract general assumptions regarding the entire
population involved in the study (Parasuraman, Grewal and Krishnan 2006). The researchers
selected a suitable sampling method in order to simplify results, particularly when large
number of population is involved, because it is difficult for the researcher to review such
large number of population because of time restriction and monetary constraints. According
to Saunders et al. (), in order to attain the objective of any particular research, the researchers
have to draw a conclusion regarding the total sample involved under target population.
There are two different types of sampling methods namely probability and non-
probability sampling. According to Sangasubana (2011), probability sampling method
includes the procedure of random collection of sample data in the study that is most
frequently related with experimental research and surveys strategy. In this study, the sample
(farmers) are selected on the basis of non-probability sampling method where 10 farmers are
selected as samples and are majorly rice farmers belonging from the outskirt regions of
Myanmar.

34DISSERTATION
Interview Development Process
8 interview questions was developed after a detailed methodology review that will
enable the researcher to provide a detail insight of the knowledge and understanding of
individual farmers. The primary aim of this method was to guarantee the formulation of a
research question that is sharp and discerning for the selected topic. The interview question
will thus enable the researcher to identify and observe the result based on the response
submitted by each farmer. Total 10 farmers were included in the interview and each farmer
had submitted their individual response. The interview questions formulated for this
particular study are as follows:
[1] What do you know about organic farming?
[2] Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming?
[3] Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizers, homa
organic farming, and bio-rational pest management?
[4] What kind of training do you think you need to increase your knowledge in the
domain of organic farming?
[5] Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming?
[6] How long have you been practicing farming?
[7] What is your educational attainment?
[8] How old are you?
Participants included in the interview
It is claimed that there is no specific rules involved in qualitative research methods
comprising of sample size; commonly, investigators interview relatively small groups
(Martens 2014). Total of 10 participants were included in the interview and each of them
belonged to the outskirt region of Myanmar village and dealing with rice farming. The
process of interview continued for approximately 30-40 minutes and was basically a face to

35DISSERTATION
face interview. Interviews of each participants was recorded by using tape recorder and
proper consent was taken from each and every involved participants. Other than recording the
interview few important notes was also taken down throughout the interviews. A letter of
consent associated with introductory letter was sent to every involved participants to appeal
for participating in the interview. Consequently, follow-up requests were also carried out
through calls for the participants who were not responding to the consent letter in order to
confirm the time of interview.
Instrument Translation
The interview question were originally written in English language. Hence, it was
crucial to effectively translate the written interview question into the local language of
Myanmar (Burmese) that would allow the participants to read the questions and accordingly
respond to each question. Local translator was used and involved in this study as they would
efficiently transfer the question written in English language to the local language of the
participants (Burmese) thereby allowing them to successfully respond to each and every
question. Once the participants have successfully responded to those 8 question, the local
translator will further translate the answer of each participants in English language, which
would allow the researcher to understand and assess the response of every participants and
accordingly evaluate the research findings. The local translator was selected on the criterion
if they could understand and translate both the languages namely English and Burmese.
Data Analysis Strategy
Data analysis strategy is defined as the strategy used by the researcher to accumulate the
relevant data and develop a suitable understanding from the data that is considered important
for evaluating the result and determining the research findings. Thematic data analysis
strategy was used in this study that is considered as the most common type of data analysis

36DISSERTATION
method in qualitative research study that emphasizes on recording, examining and
pinpointing the themes present in the data (Kline 2005).

37DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Data analysis
Introduction
This chapter précises and analyses the statements of the farmers, in relation to the
objective of the research that had been previously described such as, training requirements of
the respondents, and association of their training needs with educational attainment, age, and
experience in farming. The responses of the farmers were organized initially, according the
pertinent qualities, and later on based on the impact of demographic characteristics on the
training requirements of the farmers. Almost all responses of the 10 farmers addressed the
aforementioned parameters. As such, the responses given by the farmers might appear several
times in the four themes that will be discussed in the chapter.
It is imperative to differentiate between conventional farming and organic farming,
based on the set of procedures involved, and the impacts that are created by both the
procedures on the environment and health. While organic farming practices might not have
been considered state-of-the-art to all respondents enrolled in the study, the acceptance and
implementation of organic farming procedures were the major phenomena under
investigation.
Imparting education to farmers to increase awareness
Most of the responses obtained from the farmers suggested that the knowledge and
awareness on organic farming practices was quite low. There were seven farmers who
demonstrated poor knowledge on the potential advantages of organic farming, in comparison
to three others who were well acquainted with the procedure. Farmer 1 suggested that “While
we have heard that our government is spending huge sum of money to promote organic
farming, still majority of individuals like us are ignorant and uninformed about its benefits”.
This statement was congruent with that of farmer 2 who mentioned that “Recently we were

38DISSERTATION
advised by the local administration that we should convert to green farming initiatives in
order to enhance the quality of our produce, and increase our yield, but they did not provide
us any instructions to do so”. This in turn was congruent with the response of farmer 4 “The
government has issued a notice that we have sufficient land obtainable for organic farming,
but we do not know how to begin with the process”. Thus, an analysis of the responses
suggested that the nation had the potential of developing an organic farming based
agricultural market, with the intention of boosting the worth and value of local produce for
the purpose of export. This would also largely improve the living standards for all farmers.
However, little efforts were being taken by the government and non-government
officials in imparting education to the farmers on the different strategies and techniques of
organic farming. The same had been stated by farmer 5 and 7 who mentioned that “we need
to be given training in a manner that helps us in realising what are the disadvantages of the
traditional farming methods that we have been practicing for long”, and “there are no
provisions for workshops or trainings where we will be able to understand how to implement
organic farming steps in our lands”, respectively. Thus, it was found that while taking into
consideration the increasing demand for organic crops in global agricultural market, the
government officials might also identify the pressing need of developing awareness about
potential or organic export amid the farmers. The need of imparting education to the farmers
in the form of trainings, or workshops was also identified by farmer 8 who suggested that “if
we are to believe the huge growth and development potential for organic farming in our
country, why are we not being sent to training programs, where the officials will teach us the
basic steps of crop and livestock production”.
This was consistent with the response of farmer 9 and farmer 10 who told “we are
advised to recycle our resources and materials to greatest possible extent, and perform crop
rotation; however, no one comes to help us in performing the same, we cannot learn the

39DISSERTATION
process all by ourselves”, and “we know about the benefits of organic farming, but our senior
farmers are not able to help us in the process”. However, the aforementioned training needs
of the farmers were not identified by farmers 3, and 6 who suggested that “we do not require
any training, we can ourselves learn by exploring”, “the government is providing adequate
financial resources, what more can we ask for”, respectively. This calls for the need of
imparting education to the farmers.
Relation between age and training needs
An analysis of all the responses provided an indication for the fact that with an
increase in age, the farmers demonstrated lack of adequate understanding and awareness on
the benefits of organic farming and the need to implement the procedures. It had been
mentioned by farmer 1 and 2 that “I am 50 years old and belong to a family of farmers, and
have never felt the need of replacing our conventional farming procedures with organic
farming”, and “My age is 62 years, and I do not think that the traditional farming methods
degrade the soil, or cause erosion”. Farmer 4 also stated that “I am 58 years old, started
farming since I was 14, and in all these years my farming practices never created an impact
on the environment”. It could be deduced from the responses that the more aged a farmer
was, the more likelihood he displayed to be completely unaware of new innovations in
farming, and did not have adequate understanding on the recent advancements that were
being made in the domain of organic agriculture.
These findings were congruent to the replies given by farmer 5, and 8 as well who
stated that “I am 63 years old, and have never failed to obtain good yield for my crops, so I
fail to understand what are the negative impacts of my traditional farming techniques”, and
“I have been farming since I was 17 years old. I am currently aged 49 years, and I have
always seen my father and grand-father to use pesticides and insecticides for increasing crop
yield”, respectively. Thus, it can be suggested that the more aged a farmer was, the more

40DISSERTATION
likely was it for him to be unaware of the benefits of organic farming, and the damage that
chemical fertiliser-based farming created on their land. Farmer 9 also held a similar view and
stated that “I am 58 years old and I do not find it essential to switch over to a farming
technique that has not been taught to us”.
Furthermore, responses from the farmers 3, 6 and 10, aged 23, 18, and 21 years,
respectively were namely, “I know what organic farming is and I want to implement it in my
land”, “I understand that organic farming prevents soil deterioration, and is beneficial”, and
“although I have read about organic farming and the dangers of chemicals, I think some
training is required”. Farmer 7 did not respond to the question. Hence, it was understood that
young farmers were more aware of the increased productivity brought about by transition
from traditional farming to organic farming, and also displayed a willingness to enrol in
training programs, for enhancing their agricultural produce.
Relation between educational attainment and training needs
On evaluating the responses to interview questions, it was deduced that greater the
educational attainment, lesser is the need or training and education among the farmers. This
can be accredited to the responses of farmer 1 and 4 who stated that “I have never been to
any school, and have learnt all traditional farming techniques by observing my father and
uncle, who also never received any training for farming”, and “My parents could not afford
to send me to school, so I started assisting my father while spraying pesticides on our rice
fields”. The aforementioned statements were also congruent with those said by farmer 5
namely, “I cannot read or write, and have always used pesticides and chemical fertilisers in
my land, based on the proportion that I had learnt from my seniors, and it never caused me
any harm”. Hence, it was analysed that most farmers lack had of educational attainment due
to poor socio-economic conditions, and lack of accessibility to educational institutions.

41DISSERTATION
Therefore, their basic farming practice was based on knowledge gained over the years from
elders, rather than evidences.
This was also affirmed by farmer 7 and 9 who stated that “our poor background
prevented my parents from sending me to school, and I started going to the fields from an
early age”, and “I could not study beyond standard three, and never obtained any formal
training on farming practices”. The statements were also consistent with those mentioned by
farmer 8. “I could not receive formal education due to lack of any schools due to lack of
transport and high education costs. Thus, I am not well-acquainted with the techniques and
strategies for organic farming”. Farmer 2 did not respond to the question.
However, it was found that the young farmers had greater educational attainment,
with farmer 3 and 10 stating “I have completed high school, and use chemical fertilisers in
proportions that are advised by the government” and “I have been to school and studied till
standard 9, and I keep a track on the recent changes in farming techniques and procedures”.
Farmer 6 also mentioned that “My parents had put their savings and sent me to a school,
where I completed secondary education. I realise the importance of training in organic
farming”. Hence, greater education was inversely related with the training needs amid
farmers.
Relation between experience and training needs
On conducting a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the responses to the
interview questions, it was also found that there existed an inverse correlation between
experience amid the farmers and their training needs for organic farming. Famer 1 responded,
“I have been practicing farming ever since I was a child, and accompanied my father and his
friends to the fields”. Comparable responses were provided by famer 2 and 4 who mentioned
that “I have an experience of more than 45 years in farming, and have never faced any

42DISSERTATION
difficulty, in relation to soil erosion, or use of chemical fertilisers in my ancestral piece of
land”, and “I have been working in my land for more than 40 years, and have always sown
and harvested crops, based on the traditional proportion of pesticides and insecticides,
which my father and grandparents used to apply”. Hence, it could be deduced that farmers
who were older in age were more experienced in their profession, and typically considered
conventional farming procedures as more advantageous, when compared to the practice of
organic farming that has gained attention in recent years.
Although farmer 8 had a considerably lesser experience, when compared to his older
counterparts, as evidenced from his statement “I have been planting crops for almost three
decades, and have intentions of following traditional methods until I am actually trained in
the new farming technique”, it was also evident that lack of educational attainment made
most study participants engage themselves in traditional farming practice from an extremely
young age, and also prevented them from increasing their awareness and understanding on
new methods. Responses from farmers 5, 7, and 9 were “I have an experience of roughly two
score years in traditional farming”, “I have been sowing crops in the land since childhood
and have lost count of my experience”, and “My land has given me good crop yield for more
than 45 years, and I feel extremely proud to live up to the expectations of my ancestors, who
started from scratch”. On the other hand, it was found that those farmers who had received
greater educational attainment, and were of young age, when compared to others,
demonstrated less experience in the profession.
As evidenced from the responses of farmer 3 and 10 namely, “I joined my family farm
after passing from school and have tried to implement new methods and technologies, but
lack of training makes my task difficult”, “I have an experience of six years as a farmer, but
in recent years I have seen several of my contemporaries to shift to organic farming
procedures”, respectively. This was similar to farmer 6 who stated that “I do not have much

43DISSERTATION
of an experience in my profession, and feel it is necessary to learn new organic farming
methods to increase crop yield”. Thus, with an increase in experience, farmers became more
reluctant to implement new organic farming practices.
Discussion
An analysis of the interview responses suggested that seven farmers were middle or
old aged, had poor educational attainment, and greater experience in farming, in comparison
to their three young counterparts. Their responses elaborated that taking into consideration
the fact that they have been practicing the conventional methods of farming since several
decades, and had also observed their ancestors apply the same procedures, they are not much
aware of the benefits and potential advantages of organic farming procedures. This is
consistent with findings from another study where the researchers elaborated that there exists
low to medium amount of knowledge and awareness amid rice farmers on activities that are
encompassed in organic farming, and markets that sell organic produce. The researchers also
elucidated that mostly private institutions and NGOs acted as the primary source of support
service and knowledge for these farmers, and that the government was largely responsible for
increasing accessibility to necessary services. In addition, it was also found that the
government plays a crucial role in imparting farming education on pest and disease
management, seed requirement, compliance to farming standards, crop rotation, and soil
management practices (Magarvadiya and Patel 2014). In the words of Pantoja, Badayos and
Rola (2016) notwithstanding the efforts adopted by the government of Philippine, with the
aim of promoting the implementation of organic agriculture, predominantly for rice, the
frequency of adoption is still small. The researchers also argued that apart from the
aforementioned factors like old age, lack of experience and poor educational attainment,
other features that prevented implementation of organic rice harvesting practices were the
prevailing perceptions of farmers that yield degenerated on not using chemical fertilisers, and

44DISSERTATION
that organic farming methods were more arduous and time-consuming, when compared to
traditional farming practices.
Comparable to the responses that were given by the 10 farmers during the interviews,
results from other research also helped in concluding that women farmers who reported
higher education levels, small landholders, and those with reduced-cost per hectare
demonstrated an increased likelihood in adopting organic farming methods (Digal and
Placencia 2018). However, one major difference with the current research results was that,
unlike the interview responses where more experienced farmers were reluctant to apply
organic farming, those with longer experiences in production of rice displayed an increased
willingness to adopt organic farming practices. Moreover, the presence of NGOs, extension
services, and private support institutions for intensifying organic crop production was also
imperative, thus highlighting the need of imparting training and education to the farmers.
Although most of the farmers demonstrated a lack of adequate understanding on the
disadvantages of using chemical fertilisers on their crops, and the strategies that are essential
for organic farming, it was elucidated by Chhani (2016) that free flow of expert and skilful
labor by the Myanmar government will play a crucial role in bring about an exchange of
farming technology within the existing community. In addition, it has also been postulated
that easy flow of goods will necessitate the import of equipment technology in organic
farming. This in turn would provide necessary assistance to the farmers in practicing organic
and GAP farming. The researchers recognised the importance of the ASEAN Transport
Acton Plan (ATAP) for infrastructure development, and also stated that the government must
take efforts in providing regulations and rules to safeguard the farmers, familiarise them with
novel agriculture methods, develop improved infrastructure, and provide credits, subventions,
and warehouses. Conditions prevailing in Myanmar are also similar to circumstances
prevalent in Malaysia where it has been found that traditional farmers lack the much needed

45DISSERTATION
motivation for investing in organic farming and also do not receive adequate loans from the
government, which in turn prevents them from implementing new farming procedures to their
fields (Tiraieyari, Hamzah and Samah 2017).
The responses suggested that poor socioeconomic condition played a major role in
decreasing acceptability of organic farming practices among farmers of Myanmar. These
were consistent with the fact that Priya and Prakash (2017) who suggested that socio-
economic condition created a major impact on mean knowledge among the farmers, which in
turn reduces their acceptability of bio-fertilisers, in place of chemical fertilisers. Patel,
Vejpara and Parmar (2017) also supported the findings presented above and stated that
schooling and educational attainment had a positive impact on farming perception and
practices, and demonstrated a highly substantial association with opinions and attitudes
among the respondents, in relation to organic farming. This made the researchers conclude
that the any individual demonstrating adequate educational level, is able to plan, think, decide
and execute farming techniques appropriately. Altarawneh (2016) also supported the
responses that were obtained from the study participants and suggested that organic
production of crops was associated with significantly increased costs, which acted as a major
barrier among farmers who belonged to low socio-economic section of the society. In
addition, it was also found that cultural barrier acted as a major contributor of poor
participation in organic agriculture among the farmers. They also demonstrate lack of
adequate knowledge and understanding on management and legal perspectives of farming,
thus demonstrating a lack of willingness in discarding the conventional crop production
techniques.
The impact of socio-economic condition on adoption of organic farming practices
were also congruent with the results presented by Sodjinou et al. (2015) who elucidated that
organic farming is typically considered more lucrative method to females, when compared to

46DISSERTATION
the methods of traditional and old-style farming. This can be accredited to the fact that
producing crops without the use of chemical fertilisers enables females to hold a distinct and
isolated farm, thereby increasing their economic independence. This is in clear contrast to the
fact that while practicing conventional farming system, the females have to particularly be
subject to on the male head of the family. Furthermore, less educated, older, and low-income
agriculturalists who expressed conservational concerns were also found to adopt organic
practices, provided there were necessary training and resources. Hence, there is a need to
provided training and subsidies to the farmers on the strategies of growing crops without the
use of chemical fertilisers.

47DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Summary of Major Findings
The analysis of the interview conducted over the 10 farmer working in Myanmar lead
to the evaluation of the three significant themes and there are imparting education to farmers
to increase awareness, age of famers and training needs, experience and training needs and
educational and training needs.
Linking to the first objective: Training needs of the farmers
The main training needs of the farmers in Myanmar include increase in proper
knowledge and education along with awareness in the organic farming practices. The
majority of the farmers demonstrated lack of proper knowledge about the organic farming in
the domain of the potential advantages associated with organic farming. The analysis of the
interview highlighted that few farmers are completely opposed to conduct the training
process of the organic farming due to their orthodox nature and lack of proper exposure about
the benefits of the organic farming. While few of the farmers are found saying that they want
to practice the process of organic farming but they are unable to do so as they are unwilling to
do so due to lack of proper support coming from the government. Thus the main training
needs will include proper education of the farmers about the basic theory underlying the
organic farming and how it is beneficial than conventional farming. This will be followed by
proper assistance coming from the government in order to train the farmers who are residing
in the remote areas in the process of organic farming with require tool and assistance from the
crop cultivation specialist. Agarwal and Agrawal (2017) are of the opinion that the farmer
who mainly hails from developing or underdeveloped countries like Myanmar mainly starts
their professional life at early age of life even after the completion of the formal studies. This
is due to increased financial unrest in the families that force the farmers’ parents to indulge
their wards in the process of farming and allowing them to indulge in the studies. This lack

48DISSERTATION
of completion of the basic requirement of education creates a gap in knowledge or lack of
awareness about the current trends in practice. Such that these farmers are less exposed to the
current techniques and practices that are popular in farming like the concept of the organic
farming. In order to increase their level of interest in the process of organic farming, the first
effort that is required to be undertaken is educating the farmers about the principle theory
underlying the organic farming and how it is helpful for the farmers. This will be followed by
training of the techniques that will be important for organic farming. Crop rotation is another
concern that has been highlighted by the majority of the farmers. The farmers are of the
opinion that they have been advised to perform crop rotation with the help of the organic
farming approach but they are unable to conduct the process due the lack of proper training.
The gap in the knowledge of organic farming by the senior farmers and lack of proper
support coming from the government is creating a barrier in adapting the process of organic
farming with a pro-active approach. Barbieri, Pellerin and Nesme (2017) are of the opinion
that cropland use activities can be regarded as one of the major diversities in the global
environmental changes and in the domain of farming resilience. Rotation of crops is
considered to be critical in the domain of land-use driver. It is also regarded as one of the
principal strategy for controlling the overall environmental stresses and other crop
performances. There are several evidences that show that use of crop rotation has
dramatically simplified within the last 50 years. In contrast to this, the process of organic
farming is regarded as an alternative option for promoting the process of crop
diversifications. Barbieri, Pellerin and Nesme (2017) stated that the process of organic
farming leads to a differences in the use of the land in comparison to the conventional
farming. This overall crop rotation in the process of organic farming leads to greater yield of
the crop and at the same time helps to retain the fertility of the soil. The process of organic
farming done with crop rotation is a complex process and requires separate use of pesticides

49DISSERTATION
and herbicides. The education of the farmers in the process of the organic farming must be
directed towards the use of the fodders in the farming process, cultivation of the catch and
cover crops in order to perform the crop rotation and detriment of cereals. There is a
difference in the crop rotation process in Western and eastern part of the world. The farmers
of the Myanmar come from poor educational background with lack of formal training in the
process of organic farming. The farmers who belong to the categories of the older adults are
mainly accustomed with the process of conventional farming and mainly concentrate on
cultivation of rice. The young age farmers who are the flag bearers of the cultivation process
after their fathers mainly learn the process of organic farming from their senior family
members. They receive no formal training. Gap in the knowledge of the senior farmers
restrict the junior farmers from learning the advanced process of organic farming along with
the method of crop rotation. Thus, the training needs of the farmers must be directed towards
the education of the different types of crops that can be used in crop rotation in organic
farming along with the proper use of the land in organic farming.
Linking to the second objective: Relationship of experience, age and educational
qualifications with training needs
The findings of the research indicated that there is a negative association between the
age, educational qualifications and experience with the training needs of the farmers in the
domain of organic farming. Gaps in knowledge on the organic farming in the cultivation are a
principal challenge for some of the stakeholders. One of the important resources of the gap in
knowledge about the process of organic farming is lack of proper availability of resources for
educating the farmers. The findings stated that farmers who are young are more likely be
equipped with the concept of the organic farming in comparison to the older farmers.
However, since they receive there are no formal training given to them they fail ton execute
the process of the organic farming. The training needs of both the older farmers and the

50DISSERTATION
younger farmers are same. This is because; both the age group is not exposed to the process
of the organic farming techniques. However, since the young farmers are aware of the
concept of the organic farming and its beneficial needs over the cultivation, they are more
likely to indulge in the training process in an effective way. Jaganathan et al. (2016) and Naik
et al. (2016) are of the opinion that the increase in knowledge of the young farmers about the
overall concept of the organic farming is mainly rooted to the exposure of the social media
and internet. However, in Myanmar, there lack of comprehensive access of internet in
different rural regions and across the different age groups and thereby creating a barrier in
comprehensive gain in knowledge about the organic farming among the older adult farmers.
The majority of the young farmers who have limited knowledge about the concept of the
organic farming are of the opinion that the process of organic farming is not cost-effective
unlike the conventional farming and thus they are unwilling to take an active part in the
process of training. Crowder and Reganold (2015) stated that though majority of the countries
have recognized the process of organic farming as an important future for the promotion of
the global food security, but a comprehensive application of organic farming is limited in the
developing or the under developed countries like Myanmar. Crowder and Reganold (2015)
are of the opinion that though organic farming or the process of organic agriculture is rapidly
growing, at present it only occupies only 1% of the global cropland in the world. The main
reason behind this is lack of economic competitiveness of the process of organic farming in
comparison to the conventional farming under the context of the poor or the underdeveloped
countries like Myanmar. The study conducted by Lekei, Ngowi and London (2014)
highlighted that the process of organic farming is profitable and is capable to securing a large
turnover only when it is used in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. Myanmar is a poor
country and its principal source of food is crops like rice and wheat. The majority of the
fertile lands in Myanmar are used for the cultivation of crops and thus this might be cited as a

51DISSERTATION
reason behind the lack of interest of the farmers to take part in the training process of organic
farming. Lack of proper time along with the length of time for certifying the process of
organic are two most widely cited causes for the farmers for not growing organic fruits or
vegetables. Both the older famers and the younger farmers are of the opinion that organic
crops are safe and are high quality and high in cost. In some of the conventional farmers there
is a desire of the process of organic farming but there is a lack of proper training needs and
thus they fail to identify the correct process to conduct the overall technique of organic
farming and cost to operate organic farming. However, the contexts of the Myanmar farmers
are quite different from what highlighted in the published literary articles. The analysis of the
review highlighted that few of the young farmers as well as the older farmer are interested in
taking training and is accusing the government that no active initiatives are taken by the
government in order to train them for the process of organic training. But it must also be
taken into consideration that government of Myanmar lacks significant funding in order to
train their farmers in the process of organic farming (Tun and Kang 2015). Few of the old and
young farmers were found to be orthodox about taking active participation in the training
session as they are of the opinion that they are practising conventional faring and they cannot
be see any harm associated with conventional farming. These orthodox farmers prevented
them from taking an active part in training. Teerawichitchaina and Knodel (2015) stated that
with increase in experience the requirement of the training differences. The experiences
employees require less rigorous training for nailing any particular techniques or procedure.
The same data was reflected when the analysis was conducted of the interview. The interview
of the farmers highlighted that the farmers who have certain experience are equipped more
knowledge of the process of organic farming and thus they are less likely to require rigours
training process. This is in turn beneficial for the under-developed country like Myanmar as it
has less resource to conduct training sessions for the farmers. In some cases the age was not

52DISSERTATION
considered as a barrier in the process of organic farming. Some farmers who are between the
age group of 45 to 65 years stated that they are interested in conducting the training of
organic farming in order to increase the crop yield if they receive proper assistance. Singh,
Choudhary and Lakhera (2016) stated that farmers mainly hail for the poor socio-economic
background. Such that they are not exposed to formal education and mainly indulge into the
farming process for managing the financial constrain in their family. Thus, any assistance in
the farming training to increase the crop yield might prove financially beneficial for them and
would draw their interest and spontaneous participation.
Conclusion
Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that farmers of the Myanmar
requires training in the process of organic farming as majority of them are exposed to the
process of the conventional farming. The training needs of the farmers are mainly directed
towards the selection of the proper crops, use of the land as per the organic farming
procedure along with the use of the organic pesticides and herbicides for conducting the
process of organic farming. The training of the farmers must be given regarding how the
rotation of the crops need to be done in order increase the overall yield of the crops. The
training needs of the farmers increase with the age along with the poor educational
qualification and lack of experiences. The farmers of the Myanmar star the farming process at
an early stage of their life without any formal training and this create gap in knowledge about
the basic procedure of the organic farming and thus increasing the training needs. However,
the Myanmar farmers are interested in taking training for the process of organic farming in
order to increase their yield.
Limitations of the Study
One of the limitations of the study is its poor sample size. The interview is conducted
by taking 10 farmers and this small maple size restricted the generalization of the data. Thus

53DISSERTATION
the data indicating the organic farming training requirement among the farmers or Myanmar
can be biased. The interview is given in the colloquial language of Myanmar and that
transcript was then translated into English. However, due to language gap, the farmers failed
to verify the translated transcript and creating a barrier in the validation of whether their
actual thoughts are being captured in the translated interview transcript of not. The non-
probability sampling is another limitation of the study creating selection bias. Certo et al.
(2016) stated that selection bias lead to the generation of biased outcome.
Recommendation
In order to encourage the farmers for the process of the organic farming, proper
education must be given to the farmers in the field like the environmental benefits associated
with the process of organic farming along with an extended benefits of organic farming like
less requirement of the pesticides and fertilizers and how it can prove to be cost-effective in
the long run. Education must also be given to the farmers regarding how the use of the
process of organic farming can be prove to be useful in increasing the overall health benefits
of the farmers. Crowder and Reganold (2015) are of the opinion that the process of organic
farming requires significant less use of the harmful fertilizers and pesticides and thus proving
to be helpful for both the environment and for the health of the farmers. The education and
training must be conducted in colloquial language so that it becomes easier for the farmers in
the rual areas to understand the concept of organic farming.

54DISSERTATION
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Appendix- Transcript of interviews
Farmer 1
1. What do you known about the organic farming? No response
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have been practicing farming ever
since I was a child, and accompanied my father and his friends to the fields
3. What is your educational attainment? I have never been to any school, and have
learnt all traditional farming techniques by observing my father and uncle, who also
never received any training for farming
4. How old are you? I am 50 years old and belong to a family of farmers, and have
never felt the need of replacing our conventional farming procedures with organic
farming
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? We
do not use pesticides in organic farming
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I’ve heard that bio-fertilisers are used in
organic farming, but I do not know about their application methods
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? While we have heard that our government is
spending huge sum of money to promote organic farming, still majority of individuals
like us are ignorant and uninformed about its benefits
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? We do not
get any support from the farm owners or government
Farmer 2

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1. What do you known about the organic farming? I am not well acquainted with the
term, but I’ve found the government advising us to follow the procedure
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have an experience of more than 45
years in farming, and have never faced any difficulty, in relation to soil erosion, or
use of chemical fertilisers in my ancestral piece of land
3. What is your educational attainment? No response
4. How old are you? My age is 62 years, and I do not think that the traditional farming
methods degrade the soil, or cause erosion
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming?
Organic farming prevents damage to crops, but I do not understand what are its
advantages
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I’ve never heard the terms that you
mentioned
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? Recently we were advised by the local administration
that we should convert to green farming initiatives in order to enhance the quality of
our produce, and increase our yield, but they did not provide us any instructions to
do so
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? No
instructions or grants have been provided by the government or farm owners for
switching to organic farming
Farmer 3
1. What do you known about the organic farming? Organic farming is based on crop
rotation and use of bio-fertilisers for greater crop yield

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2. How long have you been practicing farming? I joined my family farm after passing
from school and have tried to implement new methods and technologies, but lack of
training makes my task difficult
3. What is your educational attainment? I have completed high school, and use chemical
fertilisers in proportions that are advised by the government
4. How old are you? I am 23 years old and I know what organic farming is and I want
to implement it in my land
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming?
Unlike conventional farming, organic farming prevents us from applying pesticides
and insecticides
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I’ve heard about bio-fertiliser and bio-
rational pest management, but the term homa farming is relatively new
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? We do not require any training, we can ourselves
learn by exploring
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? Although
there is lack of aides, if we try, we can learn this new farming techniques, with little
assistance from support services
Farmer 4
1. What do you known about the organic farming? I do not have a clear concept on the
matter
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have been working in my land for
more than 40 years, and have always sown and harvested crops, based on the

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traditional proportion of pesticides and insecticides, which my father and
grandparents used to apply
3. What is your educational attainment? My parents could not afford to send me to
school, so I started assisting my father while spraying pesticides on our rice fields
4. How old are you? I am 58 years old, started farming since I was 14, and in all these
years my farming practices never created an impact on the environment
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming?
Although we have been asked to begin green farming, I fail to understand the
difference between the two steps, and the reason for replacing our old-style farming
method
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I have heard the term bio-fertilizer from a
friend who sells organic produce at the city market, but I do not know about its
application
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? The government has issued a notice that we have
sufficient land obtainable for organic farming, but we do not know how to begin with
the process
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? In our
district, there are several rice farmers, but we do not get any assistance or training
on how to implement organic farming methods
Farmer 5
1. What do you known about the organic farming? I have heard from few young farmers
that organic farming is a better way to grow crops that prevents damage to our earth

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2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have an experience of roughly two
score years in traditional farming
3. What is your educational attainment? I cannot read or write, and have always used
pesticides and chemical fertilisers in my land, based on the proportion that I had
learnt from my seniors, and it never caused me any harm
4. How old are you? I am 63 years old, and have never failed to obtain good yield for
my crops, so I fail to understand what are the negative impacts of my traditional
farming techniques
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? I
have not yet completely understood the difference between the two methods because
at the end of the day, all we want is a good crop yield
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I have not heard any of the above terms, but
would like to be educated, if they are really beneficial for my land and agricultural
produce
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? we need to be given training in a manner that helps
us in realising what are the disadvantages of the traditional farming methods that we
have been practicing for long
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? No subsidies
or workshops are held to teach us organic farming procedures. How are we supposed
to implement the new steps?
Farmer 6
1. What do you known about the organic farming? I know that organic farming focuses
on crop rotation and bio-fertiliser use

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2. How long have you been practicing farming? I do not have much of an experience in
my profession, and feel it is necessary to learn new organic farming methods to
increase crop yield
3. What is your educational attainment? My parents had put their savings and sent me to
a school, where I completed secondary education. I realise the importance of training
in organic farming
4. How old are you? I am 18 years old and I understand that organic farming prevents
soil deterioration, and is beneficial
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming?
Organic farming prevents use of chemical fertilisers that damage our crops and soil
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I know a little about bio-fertilizer use and
intend to learn about the other two
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? the government is providing adequate financial
resources, what more can we ask for
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? Financial
resources are being provided to farmers at the cities
Farmer 7
1. What do you known about the organic farming? No response
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have been sowing crops in the land
since childhood and have lost count of my experience
3. What is your educational attainment? our poor background prevented my parents
from sending me to school, and I started going to the fields from an early age
4. How old are you? No response

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5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? No
response
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I have not heard about any of these
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? there are no provisions for workshops or trainings
where we will be able to understand how to implement organic farming steps in our
lands
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? Nothing
Farmer 8
1. What do you known about the organic farming? I have recently heard the term, but
do not know much
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have been planting crops for almost
three decades, and have intentions of following traditional methods until I am
actually trained in the new farming technique
3. What is your educational attainment? I could not receive formal education due to lack
of any schools due to lack of transport and high education costs. Thus, I am not well-
acquainted with the techniques and strategies for organic farming
4. How old are you? I have been farming since I was 17 years old. I am currently aged
49 years, and I have always seen my father and grand-father to use pesticides and
insecticides for increasing crop yield
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? We
do not use fertilisers in organic farming
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? No, I have not come across these terms

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7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? if we are to believe the huge growth and development
potential for organic farming in our country, why are we not being sent to training
programs, where the officials will teach us the basic steps of crop and livestock
production
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? Farmers in
cities get some benefits, but we do not
Farmer 9
1. What do you known about the organic farming? We practice crop rotation in organic
farming, and do not spray insecticides
2. How long have you been practicing farming? My land has given me good crop yield
for more than 45 years, and I feel extremely proud to live up to the expectations of my
ancestors, who started from scratch
3. What is your educational attainment? I could not study beyond standard three, and
never obtained any formal training on farming practices
4. How old are you? I am 58 years old and I do not find it essential to switch over to a
farming technique that has not been taught to us
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? No
response
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I have heard the term bio-rational pest
management from a young farmer
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? we are advised to recycle our resources and

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materials to greatest possible extent, and perform crop rotation; however, no one
comes to help us in performing the same, we cannot learn the process all by ourselves
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? No response
Farmer 10
1. What do you known about the organic farming? It is based on maintaining health of
animal, human and environment
2. How long have you been practicing farming? I have an experience of six years as a
farmer, but in recent years I have seen several of my contemporaries to shift to
organic farming procedures
3. What is your educational attainment? I have been to school and studied till standard
9, and I keep a track on the recent changes in farming techniques and procedures
4. How old are you? I am 21 years old and although I have read about organic farming
and the dangers of chemicals, I think some training is required
5. Do you know the difference between organic farming and conventional farming? It
prevents soil degradation and erosion, and does not involve pesticide use
6. Do you know any aspect of organic farming like use of the bio-fertilizer, homa
farming, bio-rational pest management? I have read about homa farming and bio-
fertiliser in newspapers and found them interesting
7. What kind of training do you think you need in order to increase your knowledge in
the domain of organic farming? we know about the benefits of organic farming, but
our senior farmers are not able to help us in the process
8. Do you receive any support from your farm owners in organic farming? No, not much
subsidy or grant is given by the farm owners that makes our task difficult

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