Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Kaltoft (1999) investigated how knowledge, views of nation, and farm-
ing practices affected Danish organic farmers. By focusing on six in-depth
interviews, Kaltoft identified different worldviews that describe the varia-
tions among the farmers who focus more on soil, nutrients, or biodynamic
preparations. It is interesting to note that Denmark established national
regulations in 1988, nearly fifteen years before the United States, and has
actively encouraged farmers to adopt organic methods. This “institutional-
ization” of organic farming influenced farmers by making it more socially
and economically acceptable, but this in turn may diminish the original
philosophy behind organic farming.
Grossman (2003) investigated knowledge of soil processes among or-
ganic coffee producers in the Chiapas state of Mexico. Grossman inter-
viewed thirty-one members of a certified organic coffee-producing com-
munity that grew shaded coffee. This is environmentally beneficial because
it maintains forested areas. In summary, the farmers understood what is
beneficial to build the soil (incorporation of leaves and other compost,
planting legume cover crops, earthworm populations) but not necessarily
the physical processes of why it works (soil mineralization, microorganisms
in decomposition, nitrogen fixation from legumes). This study exemplifies
the care researchers must take in investigating ecological topics. The farmers
clearly understood the intricacies of growing organic coffee, but were not
familiar with the science or the scientific terminology behind what they saw
in the fields.
Research into the specific pest management activities of organic farm-
ers was conducted using the Organic Farming Research Foundation's 1997
national survey of 1,192 organic farmers (see Walz 1999). A statistical model
was built to show the types of farmers most likely to experiment and try var-
ious pest management techniques (Lohr and Park 2002). Findings suggest
that “college-educated farmers with smaller acreages, more than half their
acreage in horticultural production, and extensive experience with organic
production methods, have the greatest diversity in their insect management
portfolios” (87). If farmers had access to reliable information, they would
employ more alternative management techniques. It seems that public re-
search should step up and fill this information gap.
The “diffusion of innovation model” is a generally accepted concept
within agricultural technology, in which there are a few innovators who first
try something new, then a majority of adopters take it on, and finally a few
laggards adopt it quite late. Research investigated whether organic farmers
fit the traditional “diffusion of innovation” model, and it turns out that
organic farming is a complicated process that doesn't completely fit here.
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