Biotechnology and the Political Ecology of Information in Andhra Pradesh

在发展中国家引进转基因作物引起了争议性的反应，但除了狭隘的成本/效益分析外，几乎没有什么科学研究。 关于这项技术的更大影响的问题在印度是相关的，特别是在棉花种植区，因为印度最近发布了BT棉花作为其第一种转基因作物。该项目将在安得拉邦瓦朗加尔区的几个地区进行，这是一个过度依赖化学杀虫剂的棉花区。 这项研究将评估新的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从质量上改变农民做出农业决策所需的信息的性质。 这一变化可能会影响到对小农农业至关重要的地方管理技能。 该项目将分析种子技术的技术变革如何影响农民的本地管理技能;在“与收益有关”和“有偏见的文化传播”模式都不适合农民受到大力宣传的情况下，这种高度政治化的农业技术的创新-采用过程的性质;以及转基因作物和参与其引进的政治力量如何影响害虫综合管理项目中的“再杀”。瓦朗加尔的实地研究将包括两个地区的农业民族志，其中一个地区有许多贫穷、未受过教育的“部落”农民，他们对棉花种植相对较新。 对每个地点的150户家庭进行抽样调查，将获得农户的基本信息，并在较小的样本上保留关于投入、劳动力和其他农业投入的更详细的农场一级记录。 将对当地的管理技能进行深入研究，并在今后两年中，随着农民第一次面对新技术，将密切关注对公共信息的操纵。 更广泛的影响。 转基因作物引起了世界各地人民的强烈反应，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发展和失去生产者知识和控制的恐惧相抵消。因此，该项目创造的新知识将具有重大的公共利益。

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.