The ox fall down: path-breaking and technology treadmills in Indian cotton agriculture

Stone, Geoffrey R.; Flachs, Andrew

doi:10.1080/03066150.2017.1291505

Cited by 26 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Increasingly, these seeds constrain farmers to the most commodified form of small‐scale agriculture, where dissociated commodities are bought to produce other dissociated commodities for sale (van der Ploeg, ). Over the last four decades, cotton farming management knowledge has become increasingly separated as farmers passed through a series of technological treadmills that each encouraged farmers to become more reliant on external information and commodified products associated with cotton agriculture: Hybrid seeds, pesticides, GM hybrids, and most recently crop spacing and herbicides have all separated farmers from on‐farm management knowledge and introduced new rounds of technologies for farmers to buy (Stone & Flachs, ).…”

Section: Methods and Fieldworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This does not necessarily mean that other aspects of rice agriculture, such as the common practice of herbicide use, fertilizing, or machine plowing are not commodified. Stone and Flachs () have shown how herbicides commodify one element of crop management that changes the management practices for commodity cotton farmers. Rather, it suggests that the degree and nature of commodification for a crop can be distinguished from the commodification in the tools used for its production.…”

Section: Aligned Knowledge In the Market And In The Field In Rice Agrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aligned Knowledge In the Market And In The Field In Rice Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The variability in agricultural knowledge and commodification stems from the seeds themselves and ripples through these crops' management practices. Cotton seeds have become increasingly linked to a set of related technological practices, including insecticides, fertilizers, crop spacing, and herbicides, which we have theorized elsewhere as a process that limits farmer options in favour of agribusiness expertise and commodities (Stone & Flachs, ). By contrast, rice and vegetable seed production has maintained elements of local farmer selection and knowledge‐intensive management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Farmer knowledge across the commodification spectrum: Rice, cotton, and vegetables in Telangana, India

Flachs

Stone

2018

Journal of Agrarian Change

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Crop seeds are a factor of production that can be produced on farm or bought, commodified in varying ways and degrees, and that can change slowly or rapidly—all of which directly impact the crucial process of farmer “skilling.” Seed choices also offer a unique empirical window through which farmer knowledge may be studied. Although other studies have examined the differences between cash and food crops, this research provides new insights into varyingly commodified crops within the same agrarian system. When planting rice, genetically modified hybrid cotton seeds, and garden vegetables, farmers in Telangana, India, face different constraints and opportunities to learn about their seeds and practice that knowledge in the field. These differences arise from agronomic properties of the seeds themselves as well as from the sociocultural meaning that structures the context in which farmers buy, grow, and save them. This measurable discrepancy in farmer knowledge and experience presents an opportunity to examine the variable impact of seed commodification as it is experienced by the same group of farmers across several different crops. Building on theories of commodification and agricultural knowledge, we propose that the different ways in which farmer knowledge operates in these crops reflect a spectrum on which knowledge and commodification are inversely related.

show abstract

Section: Methods and Fieldworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aligned Knowledge In the Market And In The Field In Rice Agrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aligned Knowledge In the Market And In The Field In Rice Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Farmer knowledge across the commodification spectrum: Rice, cotton, and vegetables in Telangana, India

Flachs

Stone

2018

Journal of Agrarian Change

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The technology treadmill quickly becomes a strong positive feedback loop which is difficult to escape given the typical high capital requirements and levels of debt held by farming households using these systems of production e.g. (Stone and Flachs 2017).…”

Section: Seed Patents and Privatized Agriculture Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Privatizing the commons: New approaches need broader evaluative criteria for sustainability

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Privatization is, since Hardin, often promoted as a solution to many natural resource management challenges, particularly in common-pool resource systems. However, novel forms of privatization are being implemented in unexamined ways. In this article we explore how privatization affects natural resource management from the perspective of multi-dimensional social-ecological systems. We critique the notion that privatization is desirable due to its pure efficiency, and argue that efficiency must be relative to achieving other normative societal goals, in particular, sustainability. While sustainability outcomes often cannot be fully actualized, the processes through which privatization attempts to achieve them are more tangible criteria. First, we draw on (1) distributional and 748 Stefan Partelow et al. (2) procedural justice as normative societal goals to assess effectiveness of different forms of privatization. Second, we analyze the broader implications of privatization for social-ecological system functioning considering (3) path dependency and (4) spillover effects. We apply these four concepts to examine three different cases of privatization: eco-certification in fisheries, seed patents in agriculture and property rights in rangelands. We argue that the evaluative criteria for the success of privatization are often oversimplified, and highlight how privatization can influence social-ecological systems and the achievement of normative goals in largely unexamined ways.

show abstract

GMOs and Human and Environmental Safety

Chapela

Hilbeck²

2023

Collaborative Bioethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ox fall down: path-breaking and technology treadmills in Indian cotton agriculture

Cited by 26 publications

References 39 publications

Farmer knowledge across the commodification spectrum: Rice, cotton, and vegetables in Telangana, India

Farmer knowledge across the commodification spectrum: Rice, cotton, and vegetables in Telangana, India

Privatizing the commons: New approaches need broader evaluative criteria for sustainability

GMOs and Human and Environmental Safety

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About