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How farmers research and learn: The case of arable farmers of East Anglia, UK

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  • Fergus Lyon

Abstract

This study of arable agriculture in East Anglia, UK, draws on the experiences of farmer participatory research and the use of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in less developed countries. Farmers were found to be continually doing research, although agricultural science has tended to play it down. Farmers' research was found to be closely linked to the specific locality and the strategies, aspirations, and experiences of farmers. The diversity of agriculture within East Anglia makes local research necessary and the idea of blueprints for agricultural production untenable. The process of generating information can come from learning while working, which may appear to be experiential rather than experimental. Other ideas are generated by observing chance occurrences and some farmers were found to be doing more structured experiments similar to agricultural science. Criticisms of farmers' own research are reviewed. However, this paper proposes that such research should not be compared to scientific method, since agricultural science has the primary objective of generating information while farmers' research is embedded in the local context and is part of the farming practice. It is therefore necessary to have complementary roles for farmers' own research and formal research rather than an attempt to combine or translate indigenous knowledge and farmers' experimentation in agricultural science. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1996

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  • Fergus Lyon, 1996. "How farmers research and learn: The case of arable farmers of East Anglia, UK," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 13(4), pages 39-47, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:13:y:1996:i:4:p:39-47
    DOI: 10.1007/BF01530522
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pretty, Jules N., 1995. "Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 1247-1263, August.
    2. Jules Pretty, 1991. "Farmers' extension practice and technology adaptation: Agricultural revolution in 17–19th century Britain," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 8(1), pages 132-148, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Julie Ingram, 2008. "Agronomist–farmer knowledge encounters: an analysis of knowledge exchange in the context of best management practices in England," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(3), pages 405-418, September.
    2. Joanne Millar & Allan Curtis, 1999. "Challenging the boundaries of local and scientific knowledge in Australia: Opportunities for social learning in managing temperate upland pastures," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 16(4), pages 389-399, December.
    3. Hudson, Darren & Jones, Tom, 2001. "Willingness To Plant Identity Preserved Crops: The Case Of Mississippi Soybeans," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 33(3), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Volker Hoffmann & Kirsten Probst & Anja Christinck, 2007. "Farmers and researchers: How can collaborative advantages be created in participatory research and technology development?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(3), pages 355-368, September.
    5. Jeffery Bentley, 2006. "Folk experiments," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(4), pages 451-462, December.

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