Identifying Organic Food Practices in the Agricultural Sector in China: A Consumer Perspective

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Author Note

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Research Topic: Identifying organic food practices in the agricultural sector in china: a
consumer perspective
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background
The term organic food is referred to the product of a farming system that is produced by
avoiding man made fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and livestock regulator feed
additives. Additionally, Irradiation as well as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is also
prohibited when it comes too manufacturing of organic foods. Zhang et al. (2016) defined
organic agriculture as a systematic approach of working towards, environmentally, economically
as well as socially sustainable production. With the increasing rate of soil pollution and usage of
chemical fertilizers to enhance the production ad profit margin in the agricultural industry, the
quality of fruits and vegetables’ sold in the retail market is deteriorating in a rapid rate. When it
comes to china, 20 percent of the country’s farmland is hazardously polluted. China’s rapid
economic growth over the past 30 years has devastated its environment. Some of the major
agricultural scandals that took place in China within the last 5 years include high levels of heavy
metal cadmium in rice, exploding watermelons pumped with growth hormones, and the use of
the steroid clenbuterol to induce muscle growth of pigs have made food safety a priority for a
good number of the residents of China. According to a survey conducted in the year 20116, more
than 72 percent of the Chinese consumers are highly concerned about the food they are
consuming and suspects that the consumed food is harmful to their health (Zhu et al. 2018). As a
result of continuous blunders that took place over the decade, the demand of organic food
practices amongst the residents of China has increased to a considerable level. As per Si,

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Schumilas and Scott (2015), the organic market in china has evidenced a 30–fold growth over
the past 10 decades (Xie et al. 2015). A significant portion of the Chinese population has got
inclined towards Organic food practices over the last decade. According to researchers, the
milestone of the organic agriculture was set in the nation in the year 1990 when china exported a
certified organic product from Zhejiang Province and this had marked the launch of organic
production in the nation. According to a recent survey, China is currently the 3rd largest country
of organic for production in the world (Liu, Oosterveer and Spaargaren 2016).
Majority of the forms of sustainable agriculture in China was completely based on the
4000 years of traditional Chinese practices like crop rotation, compost recycling as well as
implementation of traditional ecological models. However, the implementation of fertilizers and
application of hybrid technologies took place during the green revolution in China (McCarthy,
Liu and Chen 2016). This revolution, though enhanced the production of agricultural and
farming to a great extent, had imposed highly negative impact on the quality of food and
biosecuirity risk associated with it. With the increased concern of the residents of the nation
about food security, traditional methods of cultivating organic food items are used along with
implementation of modern technology.
1.2 Problem Statement
While the organic food industry in china has booming in the country, the risk of usage of
harmful additives, veterinary drug residues, and mislabelling and other issues associated with
organic food production is existing in the nation. The chief reason behind this risk is the lack of
transparency associated with the organic food production process in China. More than 80
percent of the residents in the nation are upset about the current food safety situation. Consumers

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in China are willing to may even 10 times more for organic food non veg food items and five to
six times for veg food items (Thøgersen et al. 2015). However, with the scandals associated with
food item occurring one after another, the confidence of people in buying organic food in China
is deteriorating in a commendable level. For instance, the baby milk powder scandal of the Sanlu
Group in China which is new of the biggest dairy organizations in the nation had hurt the
confidence of the consumers of domestic dairy produces. When it comes to organic food items,
people are consuming organic food that lacks transparency and authentic levelling. It has been
found that the public awareness of organic standards is highly low even in financially advanced
cities like Beijing (Teng and Wang, 2015). Along with this, the effort from the side of the
government to educate people about the necessity to develop the awareness of specific
requirements for “organic certificate” is one of most prominent factors in creating the premium
for organic product, and such a lack of awareness would greatly hinder the growth of demand for
it (Ortega et al. 2016). Majority of the organic brands selling organic food items in premium
supermarket in Beijing possess no indication of organic practice apart from a specific certificate
logo on the packaging of their product (Bryła 2016). In case inorganic food items are getting sold
in the name of organic food items, the chief reason behind the demand for organic food items
will not get served. Eventually the demands for organic food items will get reduce hampering the
sales of the sale (James, Hu and Leonce 2019). Hence it is highly crucial to educate the
consumer about both the advantages of organic food and accessing authentic organic certificate
before purchasing the same.
1.3 Aims and objectives

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The chief aim of the researcher is to identify the organic food practices in the agricultural
sector in china from the perspective of the consumers. The objectives of the research are as
follows:
1. To find out the trend and organic food practices of the people in China.
2. To find out how the eating habits of organic food are related to the demographics and the
economic condition of the Chinese people.
3. To examine the current practices in organic food products in the agricultural sector of China.
1.4 Significance
Considering the fact that people of China lacks the awareness of specific requirements for
“organic certificate” while buying organic food, the purpose of this research is to identify the
psychology of the Chinese consumers behind consuming organic food items. The research aims
to find out the current food habits of consumers and its relation with the demographic as well as
the economic condition of the Chinese people (Vittersø and Tangeland 2015). The psychological
perspective of the Chinese people behind the consumption of organic food will help the research
to understand why people lack concern about the authenticity of the food they are consuming.
This, in turn will help the researcher to enhance the awareness of the residents of China about the
consumption of authentic organic food. While searching for relevant literature, it has been found
that while a good number of researchers have conducted research on the impact of organic
agriculture on the economy of China, highly limited number of researches has been conducted
when it comes to identification of the organic food practices in the agricultural sector in china
from the perspective of the consumers (Baudry et al., 2017). Hence a literature gap has been
located. This research has been conducted in order to help future researchers to conduct research

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on the topic. Along with this, this study will also help the government to assess the psychology
of the Chinese organ food consumers and develop effective strategies to enhance authentic
organic food consumption in the mentioned nation.
1.5 Structure of the study
This portion of the research paper is written to provide the users with a basic outline of
the content of research paper. The research paper has been segregated into 5 chapters namely,
introduction, literature review, methodology, results and analysis and finally conclusion. In the
introduction section, the background of the research topic has been discussed. This is followed
by the problem statement of the research. In this section, the researcher have discussed about the
specific issue that has led to the thought of conducting a research on the topic. In the next section
of Chapter 1, the aims and objectives of conducting the research has been discussed. This section
is followed by the significance section where the researcher have stated why the research will be
significant and the study will be beneficial for the audience as well s for future researchers.
In Chapter 2, review of academic literatures that are relevant to the research topic has
been conducted. The chief aim of conducting literature review is to collected secondary data for
the research. This section is comprised of the data obtained from previously done researches on
research topics that bears relevant with the current research. In this section of the research,
thematic literature review has been performed.
In Chapter 3, the methodology of the research has been discussed. In the methodology
section describes actions to be taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the
application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyse
information. The methodology chapter of this research paper is further segregated into nine parts,