Biotechnology and the Political Ecology of Information in Andhra Pradesh

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops into developing countries has stimulated controversial reactions but little scientific research beyond narrow cost/benefit analyses. Questions on the technology's larger effects are relevant in India, particularly in cotton-growing areas, as India has recently released BT cotton as its first GM crop. This project will take place in several areas of Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh, a cotton area plagued by over-reliance on chemical pesticides. The study will assess the economic performance of the new GM cotton, but more importantly it will investigate how biotechnology qualitatively changes the nature of information needed by farmers to make agricultural decisions. This change may have impacts on local management skill that is vital in smallholder farming. The project will analyze how technological change in seed technology affects farmers' indigenous management skills; the nature of the innovation-adoption process for such a highly politicized agricultural technology, when both "payoff-related" and "biased cultural transmission" models fail to fit a situation in which farmers are being aggressively propagandized; and how GM crops, and the political forces attending their introduction, affect "reskilling" in Integrated Pest Management programs. Field research in Warangal will include agricultural ethnography in two areas, including one with many poor, uneducated "tribal" farmers who are relatively new to cotton cultivation. A sample survey of 150 households in each site will get basic information on farm households, and more detailed farm-level records on a smaller sample will be kept on inputs, labor and other farm inputs. Intensive studies of indigenous management skill will be undertaken, and the manipulation of public information will be charted closely during the next two years as farmers confront the new technology for the first time. Broader Impacts. Genetically modified crops stimulate strong reactions from people across the world, both positive and negative. The potential to increase output and improve local economic conditions is counterpoised against the fear of unknown developments and loss of producer knowledge and control. The new knowledge to be created by this project will thus be of significant public interest.