Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:07:40.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Farmers' role in sustainable agriculture research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

William Lockeretz  and
Molly D. Anderson
William Lockeretz
Affiliation:
Research Associate Professor, School of Nutrition, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
Molly D. Anderson
Affiliation:
Research Assistant Professor, School of Nutrition, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
Get access

Abstract

Involvement of farmers in sustainable agricultural research can have important benefits, since farmers originated many sustainable agriculture innovations and can contribute a valuable perspective different from that of researchers. However, this does not mean, as is sometimes said, that all kinds of sustainable agricultural research necessarily should give farmers a major role—perhaps the dominant role—in choosing topics and overseeing the work. This belief overlooks the fact that farmers are just one of many groups that publicly supported research is supposed to serve and that their interests do not by themselves embody the full range of goals that sustainable agriculture tries to achieve. Moreover, although farmers can bring valuable insights to research, these alone will not be enough to insure that a sustainable agriculture research program has an appropriate mix of applied versus basic, short-term versus long-term, and component-level versus system-level studies.

Keywords

on-farm researchlow-input agriculturedemonstration projectslandgrant colleges
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , December 1990 , pp. 178 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Buttel, F. H., and Busch, L.. 1988. The public agricultural research system at the crossroads. Agric. Hist. 62(2):303–324.Google Scholar
2.Danbom, D. 1986. Publicly sponsored agricultural research in the United States from an historical perspective. In Dahlberg, Kenneth (ed.). New Directions for Agriculture and Agricultural Research. Rowman and Allanheld, Totowa, New Jersey, pp. 107–131.Google Scholar
3.Edwards, C. A. 1987. The concept of integrated systems in lower input/sustainable agriculture. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 2(4):148–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Edwards, C. A., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R. H., and Creamer, N. G. (eds.). Undated. International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture Systems, Columbus, Ohio, September 19–23, 1988, Workshop suggestions on policies and strategies. Rodale Institute, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
5.Francis, C. A., Harwood, R. R., and Parr, James F.. 1986. The potential for regenerative agriculture in the developing world. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 1(2):65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Francis, C. A., and King, J. W.. 1988. Cropping systems based on farm-derived, renewable resources. Agric. Systems 27:67–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Hadwiger, D. F. 1982. The Politics of Agricultural Research. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
8.Kirkendall, R. S. 1986. The agricultural colleges: Between tradition and modernization. Agric. Hist. 60(2):3–21.Google Scholar
9.Krome, M. 1988. Sustainable research standards can guide CALS. Newsletter 5(3):3. Wisconsin Rural Development Center, Black Earth, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
10.Lockeretz, W. 1987. Establishing the proper role for on-farm research. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 2(3):132–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Lowrance, R., Hendrix, P. F., and Odum, E. P.. 1986. A hierarchical approach to sustainable agriculture. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 1(4):169–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.National Research Council. 1989. Alternative Agriculture. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
13.Paarlberg, D. 1980. Farm and Food Policy: Issues of the 1980s. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
14.Rosenberg, C. E. 1964. The Adams Act: Politics and the cause of scientific research. Agric. Hist. 38(1):3–12.Google Scholar
15.Rosenberg, C. E. 1971. Science, technology, and economic growth: The case of the agricultural experiment station scientist, 1875–1914. Agric. Hist. 45(1):1–20.Google Scholar
16.Schweikhardt, D. B., and Bonnen, J. T.. 1986. Policy conflicts in agricultural research: Historical perspective and today's challenges. In Busch, L. and Lacy, W. B. (eds.). The Agricultural Scientific Enterprise: A System in Transition. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 13–27.Google Scholar
17.Stinner, B. R., and House, G. J.. 1987. Role of ecology in lower-input, sustainable agriculture: An introduction. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 2(4): 146–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Stinner, B. R., and House, G. J.. 1989. The search for sustainable agroecosystems. J. Soil and Water Conserv. 44(2):111–116.Google Scholar
19.USDA. 1988. Low-input/sustainable agriculture: Research and education program (pamphlet). Cooperative State Research Service and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.Google Scholar