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Innovating Conservation Agriculture: The Case of No‐Till Cropping
Author(s) -
Coughenour C. Milton
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.2003.tb00138.x
Subject(s) - conservation agriculture , agriculture , cropping , tillage , argument (complex analysis) , soil conservation , agroforestry , indigenous , business , environmental planning , environmental resource management , agricultural economics , geography , economics , ecology , environmental science , biology , biochemistry , archaeology
The extensive sociological studies of conservation agriculture have provided considerable understanding of farmers' use of conservation practices, but attempts to develop predictive models have failed. Reviews of research findings question the utility of the conceptual and methodological perspectives of prior research. The argument advanced here is that actor‐network theory is useful in analyzing conservation agriculture as a radically different agriculture: a new paradigm with new beliefs about soils, plants, the environment, and farmers themselves as well as new crop production systems. The new indigenous cultures of conservation tillage and cropping are innovative products of social networks that join farmland, farmers, farm advisors, and farm supply representatives in new ways. The spread of conservation agriculture has occurred as the result both of new agricultural science of conservation tillage and cropping and the spread of these new networks and their innovative cropping systems.