Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Diversity in cropping involves diversity in the material arrangements for each crop (weed
control, addition of organic manure, etc.); sowing and harvesting dates differ and lead to
diverse cropping activities throughout the year as well as a diversity of relationships with
“nature,” or uncultivated spaces. Intimately aligned with this, organic farmers seek to create
the most favorable living conditions for soil organisms and plants by relying on natural
processes and largely without external (to the farm) and synthetic inputs. This means that
the source of the materiality contributing to plant production is located on the farm, and
produced on the farm. The farm site, and not external, much less industrial actors, becomes
the farm's principal resource. Equally important, each organic practice, while it may be
performed at a specific moment, occurs over time and is often cumulative. The site-specific
agro-ecology of each farm reinforces the overwhelming importance for each organic farmer
to adapt and act on a specific site - the whole farm including the relationship among
different parts and sites on the farm as well as those off and around the farm.
The dominating organic materiality leads also to different forms of embodiment, which
includes more direct contact to nature. The exclusion of synthetic chemicals generates a far-
reaching chain of activities, including no purchasing, storing, processing and spraying.
Instead, farmers become involved with the management of organic manure by establishing
compost heaps, their coverage, and for some, hand mixing of bio-dynamic preparations in a
barrel following rhythms for a specified time.
Farmer's decisions regarding practices involve reflexive engagement. This is necessary
because organic arrangements represent a redistribution of materiality, actor-actant
relations, and the distribution of materiality, arrangements and practices over space and
time. Diversity, limited inputs from industry, the dominant role of “organic/natural” objects
and techniques, which support the self-regulation of nature, are defining characteristics
organic farming plant production practices.
The limited impact of standardized artifacts and the broader contribution of natural objects
and the complex, unforeseen nature-based processes require more interpretational activity by
the individual; therefore to follow routines or concepts of organic practices has its limitations.
The farmer's decisions about carrying out practices require reflexive engagement.
Contrary to the conventional practices, it's not first of all the industrial pre-formed
technology, which shapes the organic practices, but the natural given objects, rules and
ethical principles. Diverse farm patterns and the indeterminacy of the production process,
given by complex natural processes, explain the learning processes.
There is a discursive character to the social practices in the organic context. Beyond the
materiality, organic practices commonly overlap with interests of diverse groups of non-
farming actors, often members of different social fields (e.g. artist, environmentalists).
Practicing organic is communicative and discursive; this discursive character results from
the complexity of the cropping systems with diverse practices over space and time.
Consequently, the individual performances and engagement varies widely and involves a
wide spectrum commonly individualized farming activities.
The limited involvement with industrial interests also influences the political and policy
relationships in organic farming. The power, and the freedom of the farmer, is defined by:
the state regulations that are often a precondition for receiving financial subsidies; the
certifying organization that stipulates the rules to follow and the sanctions for non-
compliance; and, the “voice of the market” including local consumers who come to the farm
or a farmers market who prefer relationships built on trust and direct connections with the
producer over those in supermarkets.
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