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Using the behavioural perspective as a theoretical complement of rational models, this paper examines factors that influence the decision of producing organic wines.

Based on a quantitative analysis of 687 wineries belonging to Denomination of Origin in Spain, the authors empirically examine the sequential relationships between manager's personality and winery and institutional level factors, on organic wine production activity and winery export performance.

This paper investigates the direct and indirect sequential relationships between wineries' factors including an organic production activity and two dimensions of export performance, namely: volume-based and value-based performance. The results of a sequential model provide evidence that openness to experience, a manager's personality trait, has a positive causal relationship with organic wine production.

This paper offers richer insights into the factors leading wine production managers to change from conventional to organic production methods. Specifically, the study shows that wine production managers are susceptible to make decisions to whether produce organic wine or not that may not be consistent with the current theoretical models based on economic efficiency (i.e. comparing costs and benefits). Instead, these decisions are, in part, based on their personality traits. Future research could study how the functional attribute affects the willingness to produce organic wines.

This study contributes to a new strategic implication of organic wine production activity and export performance linkage in behavioural and traditional theoretical perspectives. These findings are valuable for policy makers in the wine sector, as they can better inform and guide policies directed to identify organic production support programs.

The purpose of this paper is to be a teaching case about organic wine in Argentina, in a sustainable perspective, showing the advantages that this country has related to others in terms of organic and biodynamic production of wine. It shows also the potential of this kind of production, and its limitations, using for that the case of Bodega Colomé, owned by Donald Hess, a global wine producer.

This paper uses case study methodology; this is an adequate approach, as Argentina has some specific characteristics (geography, labor and other conditions) that makes it unique. The information about Bodega Colomé was obtained from secondary data such as academic articles, specialized magazine articles, web sites about wine production, and an interview conducted with the General Manager of Bodega Colomé, Caspar Eugster, in July, 2009.

Organic and biodynamic wine production are discussed as an alternative to the traditional production in developing countries, specifically in Argentina, where a series of factors – geographic characteristics (altitude), lands and technology used in a sustainability logic, labor conditions, tradition, history, brand and nature characteristics – allow a competitive advantage to develop. Donald Hess, president of Bodega Colomé, bets in the direction of investment maintenance in organic wines, given the favorable conditions cited, adding brand value, but this kind of production is impossible for less expensive wines as producing wines organically is labor intensive.

The main limitation of this case is its uniqueness and its findings cannot be applied to the universe of companies in Argentina, the country studied; but it encourages future research and more investigation about the subject. The main implication of this case is the possibility of generating some discussion about the theme: do the wine producers of developing countries, such as Argentina, Chile and Brazil produce organic wine (added into the company's sustainability actions) for export, or should they dedicate themselves to the production of traditional wines for internal market?

This case study is relevant for groups of students or professionals interested in discussing the strategies of wine production and marketing. The case may also be used by policy formulators of the winegrowing industry.

The organic and biodynamic production of wine is a recent subject and there are few studies about this theme. Mainly, the role of Latin American players is not very clear and this paper contributes to the discussion about the opportunity of organic and biodynamic wine production as a possible source of competitive advantage to Latin American wine producers in the global market.

The organic production technique is a significant innovation for both process and product aspects of the agricultural sector. In less favoured areas, organic production contributes to develop the potential revitalisation of the production sector and also supports the application of endogenous development models, thus favouring sustainable development both on socio‐economic and ecological bases. The paper focuses on a case study about the possible growth of organic production in a mountain area of the Florence province, in Tuscany. The organic and non‐organic agricultural activities of the area are illustrated, with regards to the whole territorial organisation and the need to maintain agricultural activities for territorial defence. The potential development of the organic product supply is described as a result of a direct survey on the major distribution channels. The main reasons for the delayed expansion of the organic production are outlined in a direct survey on the farms of the area.

Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro‐ecosystems to remain productive in the long‐term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA).

A cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1 kg of leek production.

Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self‐supporting capacity.

The research is a cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle‐to‐grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops.

To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues.

The purpose of this study is to examine how use of agriculture information systems could impact farmers' intention to convert from traditional to organic agriculture production in the mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam, based on a research framework developed from integrating Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior. Specifically, the authors aim to test the direct impact of use of agriculture information systems on converting intention and the interaction between use of agriculture information systems and perceived economic benefits, perceived non-economic benefits of organic production and market access on the formation of converting intention.

Data were collected from a sample survey that included 634 agriculture-producing households in Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Cao Bang provinces of Northern Vietnam. The logistic regression was used for data analysis.

Research findings indicate that perceived economic benefits, non-economic benefits, market access and use of agriculture information systems positively support the converting intention. Moreover, the use of information systems strengthens the links between the converting intention and perceived economic benefits, perceived non-economic benefits and market access.

This research is innovative in incorporating the use of agriculture information systems as both direct contributor and moderator in converting decisions.

Especially after the Second World War, both in developed and to some extent developing countries, agriculture became highly mechanized and specialized as well as heavily dependent on agro‐chemicals. Such intensification of farming has produced higher yields and greater wealth but has also created some problems affecting the environment, food and farm‐worker safety. Today, different farming systems are subject to discussion and research to discover an alternative to this current agriculture such as organic production, to create conditions for sustainable agriculture and development. Organic farming has been developed in most Western countries such as the USA, Canada, Japan and European Union. In Turkey, organic farming is relatively new, but the number of producers involved in organic production activity has been increasing rapidly since the mid 1980s mainly by the relationships of some multinational companies in order to export organic products to the developed nations especially to the EU. Developing countries like Turkey have some advantages and also challenges for organic food and fiber production. First of all low‐input traditional systems are still a major part of those countries’ agriculture. Contrary to the developed countries, organic agriculture practices can help the farmers to increase productivity and to protect natural resources through using proper technological systems and also easy access to market and information. As in Turkey, most developing countries have small domestic organic markets and have begun to seize the export opportunities presented by organic farming. The main challenges they face are not having proper production practices, certification organizations and being tied only to foreign markets. It is a fact that development of organic production in these countries requires farmers to act in an organized manner instead of depending on a certification, export or import companies or a governmental body. The role of the government, of course, is also important to establish a legislative base and to support organic farming by convenient policy measures.

This paper aims at a better knowledge of the organic wine sector in Sicily. In the last few years regulations 2078/92 and 2092/91 have had a wide diffusion in the agricultural regional context; a rapid increase of areas and farms justify the attention paid by the European union policies. Two aspects of the sector have been examined: the influence on the implementation of Reg. 2078/92 with regard to diffusion of the organic wine sector in Sicily; and a group of farms in the west of Sicily have been analysed to verify the scenario of organic wine, and the strategy used in the commercialization of organic production. The results show a very interesting framework for organic wine. This is a sector in the process of major expansion, especially with regard to the trade profile, mainly because of increasing demand from markets abroad.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand consumer's familiarity with fruit processing as well as how fruit production conditions (organic and conventional farming), processing conditions (homemade, artisanal and industrial) and the type of processing (e.g. applesauce, apple cider and apple sorbet) influence consumer perceptions of processed fruits.

An online survey questionnaire was applied to 1,000 people living in France. The people represented different genders, ages (18–60+) and sociodemographic categories. Participants were categorized based on their produce purchasing habits (conventional, local, organic, local-organic). The questionnaire contained multiple choice and five point Likert scale questions. Data were analyzed using non-parametric tests.

The authors found that participants saw year-round availability, fruit preservation and food waste reduction as processing advantages. Locally sourced products were preferred to organic products. The perceived disadvantages to processing were additive usage, nutrient loss and packaging. For consumers, these disadvantages drove highly differentiated perceptions of industrial versus artisanal/homemade apple products. Processing conditions appeared to matter far more than production conditions (organic vs. conventional). In general, consumers weren't familiar with processing operations, awareness was greater for consumers of local and/or organic produce than conventional consumers.

There must be a societal transition toward healthier diets, and food technologies. Informed consumers, might be better equipped to make healthy, informed choices if the consumers are given quality information about food production and processing at different levels.

Research has shown that consumers view fresh organic fruit positively, but only few studies have looked at perceptions of processed fruit products and their familiarity with processing operations. Results of this study demonstrate that consumers could make better choices if the consumers are given quality information about fruit production and processing.

The purpose of this paper was to analyse the demographic, crop choice, institutional and environmental factors that will influence the vegetable growers in Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana to produce organic vegetables. The study also assessed the knowledge level of vegetable growers on organic certification processes.

Primary data were collected with the help of a structured questionnaire from 120 vegetable growers via a multistage sampling technique. The Heckman selection model was used to analyse the factors that influence farmers' willingness to adopt organic production as well as the intensity of adoption.

In this study, pepper (Capsicum spp) production, residential status, knowledge of organic certification processes, perceived negative environmental effect of conventional farming on the soil, and climate change positively influenced willingness to produce organic vegetables. Likewise, pepper production perceived negative environmental effect of conventional farming on the soil positively influenced the intensity of adoption. Household headship status, garden egg (Solanum integrifolium) production, perceived knowledge on grading and standards of vegetables, as well as the perception that only pesticides can be used to control vegetable pests negatively influenced the willingness to produce organic vegetables however perceived expertise of the farmer on grades and standards influenced intensity of adoption negatively.

In Ghana, even though most vegetable farmers do not have the requisite knowledge in the safe handling of pesticides, usage is widespread. Subsequent to this, is a health risk to farmers, consumers and the environment. As a result, there is a growing awareness that organic agriculture has a role to play in addressing problems associated with agrochemical use and over usage. However, most studies are consumer oriented with limited empirical research on the willingness to produce organics by farmers.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2019-0723

The purpose of this study is to estimate and analyze the production and export viability of organic cape gooseberry to Spain, cultivated by indigenous communities in post-conflict areas.

Based on interviews with indigenous people who grow organic cape gooseberry in post-conflict areas and information from official platforms, the data are systematized, and a matrix of costs, expenses, productivity and income from the production and export of Cape gooseberry is calculated. Financial indicators of profitability are calculated: net profit, net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Finally, with a regression model, the trend of the behavior of the quantity and cost of Cape gooseberry exports from Colombia to Europe and Spain is estimated.

The production and export of organic cape gooseberry is profitable for indigenous communities in post-conflict areas, favored by a special price on the European market and by the use of family labor in cultivation, which improves the profitability of the product. Because of these factors, it is likely to become an alternative to partially replace illicit crops in post-conflict areas.

This research was carried out in conflict areas, so conducting interviews in that territory put the integrity of the researchers at risk.

Studies known about organic cape gooseberry production reveal the benefits of the fruit for human health, but not the viability of production and export to Spain. This study demonstrates the financial viability of the production and export of cape gooseberry grown by indigenous people and therefore constitutes an alternative for substituting illicit crops.