Local agro-ecological knowledge and its relationship to farmers’ pest management decision making in rural Honduras

Integrated pest management (IPM) has been widely promoted in the developing world, but in many regions its adoption rates have been variable. Experience has shown that to ensure IPM adoption, the complexities of local agro-production systems and context-specific folk knowledge need to be appreciated. Our research explored the linkages between farmer knowledge, pest management decision making, and ecological attributes of subsistence maize agriculture. We report a case study from four rural communities in the highlands of southeast Honduras. Communities were typified by their agro-environments, IPM training history, and levels of infestation by a key maize pest, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith). Although variable, infestation levels generally did not justify pest management intervention. Consequently, crop losses from this pest were considered of low importance and most farmers proceeded in a rational fashion by refraining from action in their fields. Farmers attributed the low degree of pest infestation predominantly to abiotic causal factors (rainfall, temperature). The role of natural enemies in controlling this pest (i.e., biological control) was deemed of low importance by farmers; nevertheless, a broad array of such organisms was mentioned by farmers as operating in their maize crop. Farmers’ knowledge of natural enemies only partially matched scientific knowledge and was associated with the ecological features of their respective field settings. Local knowledge about natural enemies was mainly restricted to abundant and easily observable predatory species. Farmers who were knowledgeable about biological control were also familiar with a larger variety of pest management alternatives than uninformed farmers. Management options covered a wide range of curative techniques, including conservation biological control. Farmers who relied on insecticides to manage pest outbreaks knew less about biological control and pesticide alternatives. In contrast, farmers who received IPM training mentioned more types of natural enemies and were familiar with a broader range of alternative pest management tactics. Our research suggests that IPM training modifies local knowledge to better fit its environmental context. This paper provides insights in the environmental context of local agro-ecological knowledge and its linkage with pest management decision making. It also constitutes a basis for modifying IPM extension programs to deliver locality-specific technologies while strengthening the local knowledge base. Kris A. G. Wyckhuys is a Belgian bio-science engineer and entomologist currently employed as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota. For his PhD research at Purdue University he quantified social and ecological contributions to farmers’ adoption of insect pest management technologies in Honduran subsistence maize. He has a keen interest in the ecological facets of IPM and biological control, as well as in technological innovation in smallholder production systems, ethno-entomology and traditional pest management. Robert J. O’Neil is a Professor of Entomology specializing in biological control, predator–prey dynamics, and implementing biological control in IPM systems. His current work focuses on the ecology and management of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, an invasive pest of soybeans in North America.     

Farmers’ Views of Soil Erosion Problems and their Conservation Knowledge at Beressa Watershed, Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Farmers’ decisions to conserve natural resources generally and soil and water particularly are largely determined by their knowledge of the problems and perceived benefits of conservation. In Ethiopia, however, farmer perceptions of erosion problems and farmer conservation practices have received little analysis or use in conservation planning. This research examines farmers’ views of erosion problems and their conservation knowledge and practices in the Beressa watershed in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Data were obtained from a survey of 147 farm households managing 713 fields during the 2002/2003 cropping season. In-depth interviews and group discussions were also held with the farmers to obtain additional information. The results show that 72% of the farmers reported erosion problems, and they recognized that conservation was necessary. However, they considered erosion to be severe mostly when visible signs – rills and gullies – appeared on their fields. The majority of the farmers believe that erosion could be halted, and they use a range of practices for erosion control and fertility improvement. These include contour plowing (83%), drainage ditches (82%), and stone terraces/bunds (73%). Nevertheless, despite decades of conservation intervention in the area, it appears that most farmers have developed negative attitudes towards externally recommended measures. The research concludes that under the conditions present in the Ethiopian central highlands, soil and water conservation interventions should consider farmers’ conservation knowledge and practices to improve acceptance and adoption of the recommendations. Aklilu Amsalu is a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies of Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is currently doing his PhD research on best land management practices in highland watershed management in Ethiopia in the Department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Jan de Graaff is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Erosion and Soil and Water Conservation Group of Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. His expertise is on impact assessment and economic evaluation of soil and water conservation.     

The Use of Herbs in Pastures: An Interview Survey Among Bio-Dynamic and Organic Farmers with Dairy Cattle

Lack of knowledge about the effects of herbs in pastures and the frequency of their use by today's organic farmers has limited the development of new methods to improve animal health compatible with organic farming principles. Understanding farmers' agricultural practices is an early step in a participatory research process. With this in mind, we conducted a two-tiered, semi-structured survey of Danish organic farmers with dairy cattle to begin documenting their practices. Out of 350 farmers, 255 completed a mailed questionnaire – a response rate of 73%. Of these participating farmers, 66 (26%) confirmed their use of herbs in pastures. Caraway was sown at an average rate of 500 g of seed per hectare by 60 (91%). Of these, 32 used solely caraway, while 7 used it in combination with parsley. Twenty-one used caraway together with herbs other than parsley. Six used one or more herbs, not including caraway, such as chicory, chervil, dill, fenugreek, great burnet, and salad burnet. Further details concerning cultivation, convictions, observed effects, and information sources were obtained through telephone interviews. The results of this study would indicate that more research in this field is called for. Naja W. Smidt is a M.Sc. student in agricultural sciences at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark. Leon Brimer is an Associate Professor of chemical food safety at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark. His research focuses on the interface between chemistry and biology with special emphasis on aspects of cultivation, processing, and use of plants with physiologically active components (toxins).     

Agronomist–farmer knowledge encounters: an analysis of knowledge exchange in the context of best management practices in England

This paper explores how knowledge is exchanged between agricultural advisors and farmers in the context of sustainable farming practices in England. Specifically the paper examines the nature of the knowledge exchange at the encounters between one group of advisors, agronomists, and farmers. The promotion of best management practices, which are central to the implementation of sustainable agricultural policies in England, provide the empirical context for this study. The paper uses the notion of expert and facilitative approaches as a conceptual framework for analyzing knowledge exchange encounters between agronomists and farmers. Data were derived from semi-structured interviews with 31 agronomists and 17 farmers, in the context of three initiatives promoting a range of best management practices including (a) targeted use of nitrogen (N), (b) use of nutrients within manure, and (c) management practices to improve soil structure. The interviews revealed that, although many agronomist–farmer knowledge exchange encounters are characterized by an imbalance of power, distrust, and the divergence of knowledge, other encounters provide a platform for the facilitation of farmer learning in their transition to more sustainable practices.

广西地区辣椒高产栽培技术

详细叙述从辣椒品种选择直至采摘的整个生长过程的栽培管理。栽培过程中,合理选择辣椒品种和栽培条件,进行科学的大田管理和病虫害防治是辣椒高产的关键技术。     

Insects – a mistake in God's creation? Tharu farmers' perception and knowledge of insects: A case study of Gobardiha Village Development Committee, Dang-Deukhuri, Nepal

Recent trends in agriculturalresearch and development emphasize the need forfarmer participation. Participation not onlymeans farmers' physical presence but also theuse of their knowledge and expertise.Understanding potentials and drawbacks of theirlocal knowledge system is a prerequisite forconstructive collaboration between farmers,scientists, and extension services.An ethnoentomological study, conducted in aTharu village in Nepal, documents farmers'qualitative and quantitative knowledge as wellas perceptions of insects and pest management,insect nomenclature and classification, andissues related to insect recognition and localbeliefs. The study offers a basis to improvepest management programs in terms of efficacyand acceptance. It demonstrates, for instance,that a concept of pests and beneficials isvirtually missing in traditional farmingcommunities and that the Tharu folkclassification profoundly differs from thescientific classification, but is not radicallydifferent from other folk entomologicalsystems. Insects belong to the taxa calledkiraa consisting of arthropods andnon-arthropods that interact with humans. Theyare classified in several overlappinghierarchies where locomotion and human impactplay major roles while morphological criteriaare almost irrelevant. Recognition ofkiraa, however, is dominated by agriculturalaspects followed by physiological-behavioral,ecological, and human-directed features.Morphological criteria play a minor role. Innomenclature, however, the insects' physicalappearance is more important than otherfeatures. The study further shows that male andfemale farmers have different perceptions ofkiraa.The insect-related knowledge system of theTharu has prevented farmers from using modernpesticides in the past. In the course ofmodernization, however, some aspects of theirknowledge system could become obsolete andprove disadvantageous to their livelihood andagro-ecosystems.     

Colonist farmers' perceptions of fertility and the frontier environment in eastern Amazonia

Colonists, unlike indigenous peoples, are often assumed tohave little knowledge of their environment. However, their perceptions of the environment and their knowledgeof natural resource systems have a significant impact on their farming practices. Farmers in the frontier regionof Marabá, Eastern Amazonia, understand nutrient cycling and the links between different components in farmingsystems. Diagrams drawn by farmers show very diversified systems, and farmers' knowledge of soilcharacteristics, including sub-surface features, and distribution in their localities is very detailed in comparison to pedologicalclassifications. However, knowledge about nutrient cycling is very uneven, even between farmers from the same area.Generally, farmers were found to have very detailed knowledge of environmental resources, but very patchyknowledge of processes and functions underlying systems, and this conforms to evolutionary models of ecologicalknowledge. Perceptions of change in soil fertility are related to the length of settlement, and are closelylinked to the presence of forest. Overall, the majority of farmers believe they will not be able to sustain cropping in thefuture, and as forest and fallow become scarce the most feasible option will be for them to move to other areas.Farmers are more optimistic about pasture, which is viewed as a more stable system, with the key to long-termsustainability being weed control. These findings imply that a high degree of information sharing between farmers andscientists is required to establish resource management strategies and social institutions to supportsustainable development strategies at the frontier.     

Evolution of agricultural extension and information dissemination in Peru: An historical perspective focusing on potato-related pest control

Multiplicity and continual change characterize the Peruvian agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS), reflecting changes in the agricultural sector as a whole. The evolution of these changes can be traced back to the pre-Columbian era when a relatively stable and well-organized system based on indigenous knowledge prevailed. During colonial (1532–1821) and early Republican times (beginning 1821) several changes affecting the agricultural sector contributed to a weakening of indigenous knowledge systems. During the 20th century extension services provided by the government and a variety of private organizations began to play an important role in the dissemination of information, albeit in an erratic way. Since the 1970s the system increased in complexity with the emergence of non-governmental institutions. Today government participation is limited and there is a more important participation by a number of NGOs and private organizations. This diversity of actors using different approaches has generated disarray in the information system owing to the lack of coherent policies to guide the interaction among actors. This paper uses the case of potato pest control-related information to illustrate changes in local knowledge systems. It differentiates pest control based on indigenous knowledge, chemical control, and integrated pest management (IPM) and explains how changes in the system have influenced the use of these three types of information in AKIS. Currently, the coexistence of different types of potato pest control information promoted and used by diverse and usually unconnected sets of organizations and individuals presents a challenge and requires inter-institutional action guided by clear policies to promote sustainable agriculture. Oscar Ortiz is an agronomist who specializes in agricultural extension, knowledge systems, and participatory research. He holds an MSc degree in crop production and agricultural extension from the La Molina National Agrarian University of Peru and a PhD from the Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Department at the University of Reading, UK. He has worked for the National Agricultural Research Institute and Nestle Company in Peru and is currently Division Leader for Integrated Crop Management at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima. Since 2001 he has been a visiting lecturer at the Graduate School of the La Molina National Agrarian University of Peru. He is a member of the Latin American Potato Association and the International Society for Horticultural Science.     

Demystifying farmers' entomological and pest management knowledge: A methodology for assessing the impacts on knowledge from IPM-FFS and NES interventions

Enhancing the environmental soundness of agricultural practices, particularly in high input systems, is of increasing concern to those involved in agricultural research and development. The Integrated Pest Management Farmer Field School, which is based on farmer participatory environmental education, is compared to the No Early Spray intervention, which is a simple rule approach. A research methodology was developed and tested in the Philippines to document farmers' pre- and post-intervention knowledge of rice field insects, insect/plant interactions, and pesticides. The results indicate that increased knowledge from education is linked to better pest management behavior. It is proposed that the methodology may also be useful for documenting other areas of knowledge, in the design of educational interventions for farmers and in assessing their impact. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An Evaluation of the Introduction of Modified Cropping Practices in Yunnan Province, China, Using Surveys of Farmers' Households

Problems associated with land degradation are serious in China. Sloping land in South China has experienced a decline in crop productivity by 30-60% due to soil erosion and it has been predicted that most topsoil will be lost within the next 100 years if current erosion rates continue. Considering these situations, an agro-environmental research and development project (Sustainable Highland Agriculture in South-East Asia - SHASEA) was conducted in a catchment in Yunnan Province, China, to address the objectives of increasing crop productivity in sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways. A range of cropping practices was developed and implemented in a rural upland catchment (Wang Jia). At the end of the project, farmers were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. All farmers from Wang Jia Catchment, who were involved in project implementation, were surveyed. A sample of farmers working in an adjacent catchment (not associated with the project) was surveyed for comparative purposes. Farmers had different perceptions of the cropping practices employed. Contour cultivation was preferred and likely to be adopted. Others practices such as straw mulching and intercropping were seen as less appropriate and unlikely to be adopted. Polythene mulch was recognized as effective, but likely to be adopted only if financial returns were favourable. The availability of relevant information had an important impact on the extent of technology testing by farmers and their willingness to adopt the practices in the future.     

Seeing below the surface: making soil processes visible to Ugandan smallholder farmers through a constructivist and experiential extension approach

Ugandan smallholder farmers need to feed a growing population, but their efforts are hampered by declining soil fertility rates. Agricultural extension can facilitate farmers’ access to new practices and technologies, yet farmers are understandably often hesitant to adopt new behaviors. New knowledge assimilation is an important component of behavior change that is often overlooked or poorly addressed by current extension efforts. We implemented a Fertility Management Education Program (FMEP) in central Uganda to investigate smallholder farmers’ existing soil knowledge and their assimilation of new scientific concepts into their knowledge framework. Qualitative data were collected through participant observation, farmer interviews, and focus groups, and coded for using a priori and emergent themes. Our exploration revealed some notable similarities between farmers’ soil knowledge and scientific concepts, particularly in regards to soil health concepts, a discovery that could facilitate communication between extension agents and farmers. However, certain scientific concepts are either unknown to farmers or discordant with existing soil knowledge; these concepts are unlikely to be assimilated by farmers without convincing and concerted extension efforts. Importantly, we found that the combination of new scientific knowledge and hands-on experimentation with novel practices gave farmers far greater confidence in implementing improved soil management practices. Our study provides evidence that extension programs should engage directly with farmers’ existing soil knowledge to develop their understanding of key biological concepts and confidence in implementing improved practices.     

Can public GAP standards reduce agricultural pesticide use? The case of fruit and vegetable farming in northern Thailand

In response to the chronic overuse and misuse of pesticides in agriculture, governments in Southeast Asia have sought to improve food safety by introducing public standards of good agricultural practices (GAP). Using quantitative farm-level data from an intensive horticultural production system in northern Thailand, we test if fruit and vegetable producers who follow the public GAP standard use fewer and less hazardous pesticides than producers who do not adhere to the standard. The results show that this is not the case. By drawing on qualitative data from expert interviews and an action research project with local litchi (“lychee”) producers we explain the underlying reasons for the absence of significant differences. The qualitative evidence points at poor implementation of farm auditing related to a program expansion that was too rapid, at a lack of understanding among farmers about the logic of the control points in the standard, and at a lack of alternatives given to farmers to manage their pest problems. We argue that by focusing on the testing of farm produce for pesticide residues, the public GAP program is paying too much attention to the consequences rather than the root cause of the pesticide problem; it needs to balance this by making a greater effort to change on-farm practices.     

政府介入农业有害生物风险防控的博弈分析

为探究有效防控农业有害生物的思路,从有害生物风险防控主体入手,将政府介入作为研究重点,运用博弈分析方法,探讨政府、外包公司、农户间的利益关系。首先,本研究分别对三方主体的两两博弈行为进行研究;而后,将三方主体置于一个框架进行分析,探究政府介入有害生物风险防控体系的重要性。结果表明:1)非政府参与下,外包公司与农户的调节速度相对较慢,难以达到理想状态,有必要引入政府规制;2)政府可以通过规制手段,补贴或惩罚外包企业,使其形成符合有害生物防控规范的市场行为;3)政府需要通过对农户培训、对生物农药的宣传,提升农户使用现代化防控措施的积极性;4)在三方共同博弈的前提下,各方的防控成本同时下降。最后,本研究提出了完善农业有害生物防控中的政府规制模式的政策建议。     

An Evaluation of the Introduction of Modified Cropping Practices in Yunnan Province, China, Using Surveys of Farmers＇ Households

Problems associated with land degradation are serious in China. Sloping land in South China has experienced a decline in crop productivity by 30-60% due to soil erosion and it has been predicted that most topsoil will be lost within the next 100 years if current erosion rates continue. Considering these situations, an agro-environmental research and development project （Sustainable Highland Agriculture in South-East Asia- SHASEA） was conducted in a catchment in Yunnan Province, China, to address the objectives of increasing crop productivity in sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways. A range of cropping practices was developed and implemented in a rural upland catchment （Wang Jia）. At the end of the project, farmers were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. All farmers from Wang Jia Catchment, who were involved in project implementation, were surveyed. A sample of farmers working in an adjacent catchment （not associated with the project） was surveyed for comparative purposes. Farmers had different perceptions of the cropping practices employed. Contour cultivation was preferred and likely to be adopted. Others practices such as straw mulching and intercropping were seen as less appropriate and unlikely to be adopted. Polythene mulch was recognized as effective, but likely to be adopted only if financial returns were favourable. The availability of relevant information had an important impact on the extent of technology testing by farmers and their willingness to adopt the practices in the future.     

Weed control practices on Costa Rican coffee farms: is herbicide use necessary for small-scale producers?

This paper presents research conducted during two coffee farming seasons in Costa Rica. The study examined coffee farmers?? weed management practices and is presented in the form of a case study of small-scale farmers?? use of labor and herbicides in weed management practices. Over 200 structured interviews were conducted with coffee farmers concerning their use of hired labor and family labor, weed management activities, support services, and expectations about the future of their coffee production. ANOVA and regression analyses describe the relationships between farm size, labor, and herbicide use, and three farm types (i.e., conventional, semi-conventional, and organic). Based on findings regarding the amount of labor used to manually control weeds on different types of farms (large farms, small conventional, semi-conventional, and organic farms) I am able to challenge small conventional farmers?? perceived need for herbicide use. Semi-structured interviews of coffee farmers and extension workers further revealed a dominant role played by agro-chemical companies in assisting farmers with production problems, and documented a high transaction cost for information provided from elsewhere. Chemical companies hire extension workers to visit farmers at their farms, free of charge, to offer recommendations on how to treat different pest problems, while government and cooperative extension agents charge for the service. There is a need to increase the amount of resources available to the National Coffee Institute to fund one-on-one farmer support services in order to balance the influence of agro-chemical company representatives and allow farmers to make better decisions regarding weed management.     

Precisely forecasting population dynamics of agricultural pests based on an interval type-2 fuzzy logic system: case study for oriental fruit flies and the tobacco cutworms

Traditional pest control approaches rely mostly on the experience of farmers, which may not be effective due to lack of scientific information regarding the environment where crops grow. Farmers can initiate a more effective integrated pest management program when precise and quantified results of forecasting pest population outbreaks are provided. Previous studies generally utilize long-term data to predict pest populations, but such a prediction approach might not be useful for farmers who grow fruit and vegetables with shorter life cycles. This paper therefore proposes an interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (IT2FLS) with short-term data to forecast the population dynamics of the oriental fruit fly (OFF, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel)) and the tobacco cutworm (TC, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius)). Two automatic monitoring systems are used to collect the data of the population dynamics of OFFs and TCs and the environmental parameters in farming areas. A univariate fuzzy time series forecasting model with difference-based intervals (UFTSFM_DI) and a bivariate fuzzy time series forecasting model with difference-based intervals (BFTSFM_DI) are developed, and integrated into the proposed IT2FLS. It is found that the BFTSFM_DI model yields better performances of forecasting OFF and TC populations when the atmospheric temperature data are employed. With the forecasting results, farmers will have a better understanding of the population dynamics of the OFF and TC in farming areas, so they can take proper measures, such as bagging their fruits and spraying pesticides, before pest outbreaks occur.

     

农业病虫草害诊断与防治多媒体基础知识库的研究

从当前病虫草害防治的信息化现状和需求入手,提出建立一个采用B/S结构,基于J2EE平台和Spring、Struts2等主流开源框架技术的知识库系统用于农业病虫草害诊断。通过多种数字化信息服务手段对农业病虫草害知识和防治技术普及推广,使农技人员、种植大户以及新一代的知识农民能正确诊断、了解农业生产上各种病虫草害的发生规律、传播途径、识别方法和防治技术,从而达到有效地控制农业病虫草害的目的。     

Farmers’ knowledge of crop diseases and control strategies in the Regional State of Tigrai, northern Ethiopia: implications for farmer–researcher collaboration in disease management

Differences in perceptions and knowledge of crop diseases constitute a major obstacle in farmer–researcher cooperation, which is necessary for sustainable disease management. Farmers’ perceptions and management of crop diseases in the northern Ethiopian Regional State of Tigrai were investigated in order to harness their knowledge in the participatory development of integrated disease management (IDM) strategies. Knowledge of disease etiology and epidemiology, cultivar resistance, and reasons for the cultivation of susceptible cultivars were investigated in a total of 12 tabias (towns) in ten weredas (districts). Perception of diseases involved both scientific and spiritual conceptual frameworks. Of the more than 30 crop diseases recorded on the major crops in the region, only rusts and powdery mildews (locally called humodia) and a few root rots were considered by farmers to be important. Farmers’ awareness of other diseases was extremely low; some highly damaging but less conspicuous diseases, such as faba bean chocolate spot and chickpea ascochyta blight (also called humodia), were not regarded by farmers as disease but as problems caused primarily by excessive soil moisture. Considering that some of these “unrecognized” diseases can cause complete yield loss and genetic erosion in epiphytotic years, there is an urgent need for bringing together farmers’ and scientists’ knowledge to complement each other. Even when farmers had access to disease-resistant or disease-tolerant cultivars, they grew susceptible local varieties because of multiple criteria including earliness, good yield in years with low humodia severity, suitability for home consumption, market demand/quality, and low soil fertility and land management requirements. Farmer innovation and knowledge were evident in their use of diverse disease control measures, but these were a mixture of the “useful and the useless.” Our findings stress the necessity for extension workers and researchers to understand and improve farmers’ knowledge of crop diseases, and farmers’ ability to observe and experiment, through the Farmer Field School or a similar experiential learning approach. These insights about farmers’ knowledge of crop diseases provide a basis for further collaborative maintenance of crop genetic diversity, development of germplasm, and IPM-related research in Africa.

Motivations behind farmers’ pesticide use in Bangladesh rice farming

This paper addresses the motivations behind farmers’ pesticide use in two regions of Bangladesh. The paper considers farmers’ knowledge of arthropods and their perceptions about pests and pest damage, and identifies why many farmers do not use recommended pest management practices. We propose that using the novel approach of classifying farmers according to their motivations and constraints rather than observed pesticide use can improve training approaches and increase farmers’ uptake and retention of more appropriate integrated pest management technologies. Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson divides her time between Tanzania and the UK and is a research associate with the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford in the UK. She is an economist specializing in agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. She has over ten years of experience undertaking applied research in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa as a fellow and lecturer in the Economics Department at the University of Oxford; at the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich in the UK; and with the World Bank and Rockefeller Foundation in the US. Sumona Rani Das is an agriculture economist who has been working for eight years with a non-government organization in Bangladesh named PROSHIKA. She is involved with monitoring and evaluation of PROSHIKA’s ongoing activities in agriculture, and is working as a team leader with an agriculture network to promote sustainable agriculture. She has special responsibility for motivation, training, project management, and documentation of different programs. Tim B. C. Chancellor is a crop protection specialist and currently is the leader of the Natural Resources Institute’s Plant, Animal and Human Health Group at the University of Greenwich in the UK. He has 17 years research and consultancy experience in vector ecology and in pest and disease management. Other skills include project management, monitoring and evaluation, and public-private partnerships. He is also Adviser to the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) Crop Protection Programme. His commodity experience includes rice, banana, groundnut and vegetables.     

Farmer-Community Connections and the Future of Ecological Agriculture in California

While questions about the environmental sustainability of contemporary farming practices and the socioeconomic viability of rural communities are attracting increasing attention throughout the US, these two issues are rarely considered together. This paper explores the current and potential connections between these two aspects of sustainability, using data on community members’ and farmers’ views of agricultural issues in California’s Central Valley. These views were collected from a series of individual and group interviews with biologically oriented and conventional farmers as well as community stakeholders. Local marketing, farmland preservation, and perceptions of sustainable agriculture comprised the primary topics of discussion. The mixed results indicate that, while many farmers and community members have a strong interest in these topics, sustainable community development and the use of sustainable farming practices are seldom explicitly linked. On the other hand, many separate efforts around the Valley to increase local marketing and agritourism, improve public education about agriculture, and organize grassroots farmland preservation initiatives were documented. We conclude that linking these efforts more explicitly to sustainable agriculture and promoting more engagement between ecologically oriented farmers and their communities could engender more economic and political support for these farmers, helping them and their communities to achieve greater sustainability in the long run. Sonja Brodt is a former program evaluation specialist with the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program. Her current research focuses on extension and adoption of integrated pest management strategies by California growers and the impacts of pesticide safety training programs on farmworkers. Gail Feenstra is a food systems analyst at the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP). She coordinates SAREP’s Community Development and Public Policy grants program and conducts outreach and education to academic and community-based groups to build their capacity and leadership skills for developing sustainable community food systems. Robin Kozloff is a social science researcher and consultant in agricultural and land use policy. Karen Klonsky is an extension specialist at the University of California at Davis in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Her research focuses on the economic viability of organic and sustainable farming systems as well as the evolution of the organic market. Laura Tourte is county director and farm advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Santa Cruz County. Her research and extension activities currently focus on farm management and marketing for small-scale growers.