Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
As Hendricks began to talk about the curious results of the Anderson
brothers' study, SAREP scientist Bob Bugg and Rick Reed, the program
officer for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), were
looking for a working example of ecological farming. Bugg and Reed
had concluded that to advance the missions of their respective organiza-
tions, they needed to do more than critique conventional chemical
practices, they needed to promote viable alternatives to it. When Reed
and Bugg visited the Anderson orchard, they recognized what they had
been looking for, and formed a partnership with Anderson and
Hendricks.
They did not set out to promote organic agriculture, but rather to help
conventional growers re-imagine their orchards as ecological systems.
They wanted to help any grower recognize the practical economic and
environmental benefits that could gained by farming according to eco-
logical principles. If the conditions in an orchard merited a pesticide,
they encouraged a grower to use one, but only if the grower was truly
sure it was both economically and ecologically justified. While visiting
Glenn Anderson's orchard, Bugg named this project the Biologically
Integrated Orchard System (BIOS). Many people have observed that this
was a brilliant name because, in the words of Glenn Anderson, it “res-
onated really broadly for all the right reasons.” Hendricks then sent out
a letter to the 800 almond growers in Merced County, inviting them to
further participate in this study with the Andersons. Eighty growers
came to their first meeting.
BIOS promoted a holistic, farming systems perspective. Instead of
substituting one or two sustainable practices for a harmful technology,
BIOS promoted a system re-design based on agroecological principles.
BIOS worked with growers to help them perceive the potential interac-
tions between components of their farming system and the advantages of
a whole system approach. BIOS practitioners mentored growers as they
applied ecological principles to the specific conditions of their orchards.
BIOS differed from conventional Cooperative Extension programs and
their practice of technology transfer. Facilitating the acquisition of agro-
ecological knowledge requires a different approach to social relations
than transferring technology. It requires a social learning or co-learning
model, in which leaders facilitate the exchange of learning experiences of
all participants in practical research. BIOS developed local leadership
