Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.4
A technician watches a farmworker cut and grade a plot of celery. Photo by
author.
control treatments. For instance, a common measure used for comparison
is the yield of the crops in the experimental and control groups. If the
harvest is not standardized, this may introduce errors into the yield data.
In many cases, these harvest practices are performed by farmworkers. Just
as the farm industry depends on farmworkers for a skilled harvest, farm
advisors call on farmworkers to help them get standardized data that are
relevant to commercial farming standards.
Farmworkers' skills and their importance for fi eld trials is crucial yet
subtle. I use another episode from my fi eldwork, involving the same celery
trial depicted in fi gure 5.3, to detail this contribution. Figure 5.4 shows the
harvest under way, and a technician (holding the clipboard) watching as
a farmworker cuts and grades heads of celery from one of the fi eld trial's
experimental plots. The following excerpt from my fi eld notes describes
the interaction between the advisor's research team and the farmworkers
that day:
[The research team] had to run to the [grower's store] quickly before we left so that
they [could buy] some “celery knives” for the harvest. These knives have a short
