Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
industrial farms are also available. Therefore, education and training should enhance farmers'
critical ref lection of alternative choices in terms of crop rotations and the diversity of farm
operations. The complications and potentials of integrated crop-animal systems are cited by
many organic farmers as both the basic foundation of designing an organic system, and one of
the complicating factors in finding the optimum combination of enterprises and design for
systems. In some cases there is a cropping practice by system interaction, and in many cases
there is not. Therefore, education and training can help organic farmers be both open and
critical to agricultural innovations.
Three perspectives of learning are described that help explain the basis of learning in the
dynamic and knowledge-intensive domain of organic agriculture. Case studies from farmer
workshops and educational programs were presented to trace elements that enhance participa-
tion and knowledge creation. Participation perspective views education of organic farmers as a
way of enhancing the organic community. As the case with Finnish organic vegetable farmers
suggests, the community-building aspect is important and should be considered in organic
farmer education. Participatory learning is also involved in networking and in shifting owner-
ship to various constituent groups, including farmers, in planning educational programs and
workshops. Knowledge acquisition is most obvious through lectures and tours where subject
matter knowledge is given, and has benefits in some situations. All these learning perspectives
are ways of understanding learning rather than just applying ready-made educational strate-
gies. Knowledge acquisition can also be integrated into participatory, interactive and creative
educational activities.
Knowledge creation through interaction and combining experience with science around
specific case situations is seen as the most powerful of the learning perspectives. It requires
certain openness for new conclusions and recommendations to emerge, as in the case of
farmers interpreting nitrogen rate figures in Nebraska, or Finnish farmers interpreting the
visionary framework. According to Edvin Østergaard (1998), 'organic agriculture can be
viewed as a workshop of ideas for the development of new knowledge and perspectives', and
despite the increasingly standardised and regulated character of organic farming, education
and training can offer space and resources for this knowledge creation (see Seppänen and
Helenius 2004).
In the design of education and training for farmers, the authors do not suggest that the
methods and perspectives described here are only for organic producers. They are good for the
design of all education and training programs, but the need is greatest where systems and com-
ponents are complex, and there are implications of the results and their application both on
the farm and in the larger organic market and community of farmers.
It is essential that universities, ministries of agriculture, and other organisations serving
farmer clients begin to show greater interest in education and training for organic farmers.
Organisations have an important role in systematically collecting, testing and further develop-
ing the knowledge created in farmer workshops and networks. The interest for organic farming
should start in the classroom, and the Nordic Regional Agroecology Programme illustrates
how organic farming can be incorporated into graduate education (see Chapter 16 ). Organic
farming education for students and for farmers is also essential or fundamental to the Finnish
programs in Mikkeli and in Helsinki. Organic farming and food products are an important
and growing part of the food system in many countries, especially in Europe; therefore, it is
essential to accelerate our interest and attention to developing new education programs.
References
Altieri, M.A. 1995. Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture . Westview Press,
Boulder.
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