Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2007, 53(1):45-53 | DOI: 10.17221/993-AGRICECON

Bio cash-cow? Context and content of Czech organic farming

L. Zagata
Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

This work presents results of a qualitative empirical study on practices of farmers participating in the Czech system of organic agriculture (ecological agriculture). Growth of this sector has been seen almost solely in positive terms, without questioning its content. However, Czech organic agriculture does not stem from the organic movement as is the case in Western Europe and therefore it is necessary to ask what it draws on and to discover, with regard to its nature, whether it can meet the expectations stated in official policies. This paper briefly describes the development of organic farming in other countries and the current problem of its conventionalization. The research study then shows evidence that organic farming is not adopted only because of state's subsidies, but also due to the specific value orientation of farmers, despite the history and the lack of tradition of these specific practices in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: organic movement, ecologic farming, motives, conventionalization, bioproducts

Published: January 31, 2007  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Zagata L. Bio cash-cow? Context and content of Czech organic farming. Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2007;53(1):45-53. doi: 10.17221/993-AGRICECON.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Akční plán ČR pro rozvoj ekologického zemědělství do roku 2010 [Action Plan of the Czech Republic for the Development of Organic Farming by 2010] (2004). Ministerstvo zemědělství ČR, Praha.
    2. Bauman Z. (1995): Úvahy o postmoderní době (Essays on postmodern times). Slon, Praha.
    3. Beck U. (2004): Riziková společnost. Na cestě k jiné modernitě (Risk Society. Towards a New Modernity). Slon, Praha.
    4. Brožová I. (2005): Organic agriculture as one of aspects of multifunctional agriculture. Agricultural Economics, 51 (2): 51-56. Go to original source...
    5. Buck D., Getz C., Guthman J. (1997): From farm to table: the organic vegetable commodity chain in Northern California. Sociologia Ruralis, 37 (1): 3-20. Go to original source...
    6. Conford P. (2001): The Origins of the Organic Movement. Floris Books, Edinburgh.
    7. Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs.
    8. Darnhofer I. (2005): Organic farming and rural development: Some evidence from Austria. Sociologia Ruralis, 45 (4): 308-323. Go to original source...
    9. Dvořáková V. (1990): Alternativní (ekologické) zemědělství [Alternative (ecologic) farming]. Vesmír, 69 (9): 503-506.
    10. Giddens A. (1998 [1990]): Důsledky modernity (The Consequences of Modernity). Slon, Praha.
    11. Guthman J. (2004): Agrarian Dreams. The Paradox of Organic Farming in California. University of California Press, Berkeley.
    12. Jánský J., Živělová I., Novák P. (2004): The influence of state subsidies on the development of organic agriculture in the Czech Republic and in EU. Agricultural Economics, 50 (9): 394-399. Go to original source...
    13. Kaltoft P. (2001): Organic farming in late modernity: At the frontier of modernity or opposing modernity? Sociologia Ruralis, 41 (1):146-158. Go to original source...
    14. Lampkin N.H. (2005): Organic farming. In: Soffe R.J. (ed.) Countryside Notebook. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 181-198.
    15. Michelsen J. (2001): Recent Development and Political Acceptance of Organic Farming in Europe. Sociologia Ruralis, 41 (1): 3-20. Go to original source...
    16. Seznam ekologických zemědělců k 31. 12. 2004 (The list of organic farmers 31/12/2004). [online]. Praha: Ministerstvo zemědělství ČR, 2005 [cited 12. 10. 2005]. Availabed at URL <http://www.mze.cz>. Seznamy v ekologickém zemědělství.
    17. Tovey H. (1997): Food, environmentalism and rural sociology: On the organic farming movement in Ireland. Sociologia Ruralis, 37 (1): 21-37. Go to original source...
    18. Zákon č. 242/2000 Sb. o ekologickém zemědělství [Act No. 242, Coll. 2000 on ecologic agriculture].

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content