A Study on Consumers' Perception towards Organic Products with Special Reference to Thoothukudi District

The organic food industry is growing at fast rate on a world wide basis and is now has been the matter of much me dia attention over the past decade. Over the past several years, the organic food industry in India has been experiencing an annual growth between 20-22 percent . India has the potential to be largest organic food producer. In India, there are over 15000 certied organic farms and the number is growing fast over the years. According to the Indian Competence Centre for organic agriculture, the global market for organically produced food is $26 billion and is estimated to increase to $102 billion by 2020 . Food is the means to survival conversely, people are alert of the fact that the food people eat is adulterated and contaminated. The reason behind this being the use of chemicals to ripen the fruits and retain the freshness of vegetables. This can provedeadly to our health in the long run, rat her than beneting us. This increasing awareness has caused shifts in consumers’ tastes and preferences which have led to the domestic as well as global rise in demand for organic products. Organic food awareness in the society and consumers has been increasing day by day but purchasing behaviour of organic food products is difcult because organic food products are available in the market together with conventional ones and the buying decision depends on many factors such as health and environmental attitudes and socio- demographic characteristics that can vary sharply across individuals. This study attempted to gain knowledge about consumption and how socio- economic variables relate to consumer buying behaviour concerning the purchase of organic foods on the title “ A Study on consumers’ perception towards organic products with special reference to Thoothukudi District” is chosen