Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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doing research on nonindustrial modes of production note that institu-
tional biases and links to agribusiness hinder the availability of information
on alternative research (Larson and Duram 2000). Land grant universities
have 885,863 acres of field plots and research lands in the United States,
but only 0.02 percent (151 acres) are certified organic (Sooby 2003). This is
one hundred times less than the 0.2 percent of total U.S. cropland that is
certified organic and hundreds of times less than the percentage of some
crops; for example, 2 percent of tomatoes grown in the United States are
certified organic. The complex nature of agricultural policy makes a shift
toward alternative research iffy, as researchers have had neither professional
or financial incentives to move in that direction (Smith 1995). There are
a few glimmers of hope with promising organic research programs under
way at a few universities, but this historical lack of research attention shows
the low status organic farming has had within the conventional industrial
agricultural research system. At the same time, demand for organic food
has been increasing by leaps and bounds.
Organic farmers have been on their own to experiment and develop
pest management and soil fertility techniques and to share their findings
with other organic farmers in their region or across the country. This is
particularly an acute need for organic farmers, as information needs inten-
sify with the adoption of reduced-chemical methods (Lockeretz 1991). Even
programs in “sustainable” agriculture are often irrelevant for organic farm-
ers. The most important national initiative for sustainable agriculture is the
USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.
Yet, even within this targeted program, only 19 percent of the funds are
for projects that focus on organic production and marketing (Greene and
Kremen 2003). As we found in our study of researchers who were funded
by the north central region of this grant program and organic farmers in
the same region: there was a very little overlap between the desired topics
that organic farmers found useful for their farm and the actual topics of the
SARE research (Duram and Larson 2001). This varies by region, however,
as the north east SARE program has funded conferences and information
relevant to organic farmers (see Stoner 1998, for example). It is hoped that
SARE is becoming more sensitive to organic growers' needs, as presented on
their current Web site. Although even here, the term
organic
is somewhat
taboo, even when the topic is appropriate. In an information bulletin titled
“A Whole-Farm Approach to Managing Pests” the term
organic
is not used
(USDA-SARE 2000). Apparently,
pesticide-free
,
ecological approaches
, and
in-
tegrated pest management
are the terms in favor.
In an overview study by the Organic Farming Research Foundation
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