Agricultural Economics Department
Date of this Version
October 2002
Abstract
Consumer concerns regarding the health and environmental effects of inputs used in conventional production systems (i.e., fertilizer, pesticides, etc.), coupled with rising living standards and/or subsidization of organic agriculture (i.e., case of the European Union (EU)), have resulted in the development of fast growing markets for organic food in several countries around the world. “Organic” refers to food produced through a process characterized by mandatory “soil building” crop rotations and absence of synthetic inputs. The lack of synthetic inputs results in reduced yields and, when compared to conventional food production, the production of organic food is more labor intensive
Comments
Published in Cornhusker Economics, 10/16/2002. Produced by the Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
http://www.agecon.unl.edu/Cornhuskereconomics.html