Goreham, Gary A. (author), Leistritz, F. Larry (author), Rathge, Richard W. (author), and Departments of Sociology and Agricultural Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND; Departments of Sociology and Agricultural Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND; Departments of Sociology and Agricultural Economics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1988
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 83 Document Number: C05135
AGRICOLA IND 89001627, We compared the socioeconomic characteristics of a generalizable sample of displaced farm households in North Dakota with a random sample of producers who were currently operating their farming enterprises. We hypothesized that the displaced farmers would differ significantly from their currently operating counterparts in (1) the structural conditions of their operations and (2) their personal characteristics. Our hypotheses were guided by the changing structure of the agriculture literature and the adoption-diffusion literature. We obtained our data from lists of farmers who were displaced between 1981 and 1985 for financial reasons (N = 169) and from a panel of active farmers (N = 759) initially surveyed in 1985. We found that farmers displaced between 1981 and 1985 did not operate enterprises significantly different from those currently in business. Our analysis of the personal characteristics of operators revealed statistically significant differences, but these differences had limited explanatory power. We concluded that researchers should shift their attention to macrolevel variables to characterize displaced farmers.
AGRICOLA IND 89035615, We explore the relationship between adoption of farm technology and labor availability in Africa. We use a case study of the introduction of a high-yielding variety of maize in an area of Zambia to examine the different aspects of the relationship between adoption and labor availability/mobilization. The research is based on an intensive 15-month study of 23 maize farmers, survey data from 240 of their farm workers, and data collected from an ongoing integrated rural development project. The data illustrate that the shift to hybrid maize requires additional labor. farmers' inability to mobilize additional labor results in partial adoption and various compromises in the performance of recommended practices. The labor survey reveals that despite farmers' preferences for hiring older workers and female labor, children are extensively employed because of their availability. We conclude by illustrating the need for adoption research that takes the broader farming environment into account.
"The argument advanced here is that actor-network theory is useful in analyzing conservation agriculture as a radically different agriculture: a new paradigm with new beliefs about soils, plants, and environment, and farmers themselves as well as new crop production systems."
