Biotechnology and the Political Ecology of Information in Andhra Pradesh

将转基因作物引入发展中国家引发了争议性反应，但除了狭隘的成本/收益分析外，几乎没有科学研究。关于这项技术的更大影响的问题在印度是相关的，特别是在棉花种植地区，因为印度最近发布了首个转基因作物Bt棉花。该项目将在安得拉邦瓦兰加尔地区的几个地区进行，这是一个受化学农药过度依赖困扰的棉花地区。这项研究将评估新转基因棉花的经济表现，但更重要的是，它将调查生物技术如何定性地改变农民做出农业决策所需信息的性质。这一变化可能会对当地的管理技能产生影响，而这在小农耕作中至关重要。该项目将分析种子技术的技术变革如何影响农民的本土管理技能；当“收益相关”和“有偏见的文化传播”模式都无法适应农民被积极宣传的情况时，如此高度政治化的农业技术的创新-采用过程的性质；以及转基因作物以及参与其引进的政治力量如何影响病虫害综合管理计划中的“复杀”。瓦兰加尔的实地研究将包括两个地区的农业人种学，其中一个地区有许多贫穷的、未受过教育的“部落”农民，他们相对来说是棉花种植的新手。在每个地点对150户家庭进行抽样调查，将获得有关农户的基本信息，并将在较小样本上保留更详细的农场层面的投入、劳动力和其他农场投入的记录。将对土著管理技能进行深入研究，并将在未来两年密切记录操纵公共信息的情况，因为农民首次面对这项新技术。更广泛的影响。转基因作物引发了全世界人民的强烈反应，既有积极的，也有消极的。增加产量和改善当地经济条件的潜力与对未知事态发展和失去生产者知识和控制的担忧相平衡。因此，该项目将创造的新知识将具有重大的公众利益。

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.