Estimating public participation in investment organic products in Babol (Case Study: Organic rice)

Health and safety are considered to be significant factors in today life. In recent years,consumers concern in respect to the environmental and health issues associated with the foodproducts has increased. As a consequence, demand for organic products has subsequentlyaugmented. The present study provides marketing data in terms of consumers preferences andtheir willingness to pay for organic agricultural products in Babol city. The main objectives ofthis study include examining the consumers willingness to pay for organic rice and estimatingpublic participation in investing in organic rice in Babol city. In the present research,contingent valuation method (CVM) using probability logistics function and limited two-partquestionnaire, was applied. The findings derived from the Logit model for rice indicated thateducation level, cancer experience and insurance experience variables were significant at 1 %.The mean of willingness to pay for 1 kg organic rice was estimated to be 124.361 $.According to the average exchange rate for six months of 2015 (2.732 $), the studied familyin this research tends to monthly assign 4.55 $ of its revenue to purchase organic rice.Furthermore, the level of public participation in investing in organic products was estimatedto be 616.177 $. The aforementioned results provide important data concerning the productionof organic agricultural products.

کلیدواژه ها:

Contingent valuation method ، Logit model ، willingness to pay ، Organic rice ، Babol City