Organic farming has attracted increasing policy and scholarly attention because of its associations with environmental protection, soil health, food quality, human health, and potentially improved farm incomes. However, the expansion of organic agriculture depends not only on consumer demand or policy ambition but also on the awareness, perceptions, capabilities, and institutional conditions of primary agricultural producers. This narrative and thematic review synthesizes supplied research concerning farmers' knowledge of organic practices, certification and standards, perceived benefits, adoption motivations, barriers, training needs, and extension support. The reviewed evidence indicates that producer awareness is multidimensional and uneven. Farmers may understand the general health and environmental rationale for organic agriculture while remaining uncertain about production techniques, certification procedures, market requirements, input availability, and the economic implications of conversion. Across the literature, positive attitudes toward organic farming are common, but favorable perceptions do not consistently result in adoption. This awareness-adoption gap is associated with perceived production risk, low technical capacity, inadequate market opportunities, certification costs, weak institutional support, insufficient credit, and uncertainty during the conversion period. Training, extension, farmer organizations, information access, education, land ownership, market premiums, and supportive public policies are recurrent drivers, although their influence varies by context. Evidence from randomized training research provides stronger support for the causal effect of intensive information provision than the predominantly observational survey literature. Future research should use longitudinal and experimental designs, measure certification-specific knowledge more precisely, examine gender and social differentiation, assess digital extension, and connect awareness with actual conversion and sustained organic management. Organic farming awareness should therefore be understood as a necessary but insufficient condition for adoption, requiring integration with viable markets, resources, institutions, and locally appropriate support systems.

Keywords: organic farming; producer awareness; farmer adoption; certification knowledge; agricultural extension; smallholders