Open AccessTHE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: Public policy for agricultural technology
Author(s) -
John Ikerd
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of agriculture, food systems, and community development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2152-0798
pISSN - 2152-0801
DOI - 10.5304/jafscd.2022.113.001
Subject(s) - productivity , work (physics) , agriculture , sustainability , emerging technologies , business , agricultural machinery , industrial organization , technological change , economics , environmental economics , economic growth , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , ecology , macroeconomics , artificial intelligence , biology
In my previous column on technology, I reasoned that “good technologies” (1) should not force people to adopt them but be matters of choice, (2) should reduce the drudgery of work but not the thinking, and (3) should not separate thinking from working (Ikerd, 2022). I concluded that industrial agricultural technologies violate all of these criteria because they are designed to maximize productivity and economic efficiency rather than economic sustainability. I concluded: “The technological challenges of the future will be to develop new mechanical, biological, and digital technologies that empower, rather than oppress, the people who choose to use them” (Ikerd, 2022, p. 7).