A special issue of Experimental Agriculture, ‘Doing Development-Oriented Agronomy: Rethinking Methods, Concepts and Direction’ brings together a selection of papers that not only present agronomic research findings, but critically review orientations, methodologies…
New papers explore heated debates in agronomy for development
How to move beyond technology in ‘Sustainable Intensification’
by Saurabh Arora and Ravic Nijbroek Sustainable Intensification (SI) promises more food from the same amount of land, while minimizing pressure on the environment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, considerable research and…
Contested Agronomy: Imagining different futures for food and farmers
The question of how to improve farming to feed and sustain people in developing countries is as important as ever, and there are no easy solutions. One route to finding…
Contested Agronomy: Four big questions to debate
We have just finished a fantastic conference co-hosted by the STEPS Centre on ‘Contested Agronomy’ with 80 participants and a vibrant discussion. I was asked to give some comments at…
Exporting China and Brazil’s agricultural know-how to Africa
Can China and Brazil use their home grown agricultural knowledge, which has driven phenomenal agricultural productivity at home, to transform agriculture in Africa? That was one of many questions discussed…
Contested Agronomy 2016: Whose agronomy counts?
Contested Agronomy 2016 is a conference about the battlefields in agricultural research, past and present. Date and venue 23 – 25 February 2016 Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex,…
Contested Agronomy: more heat than light?
by Jim Sumberg, John Thompson, Ken Giller and Jens Andersson Agriculture, and the agronomic research that supports it, will be critical in making sustainable, equitable and secure development a reality….
Has the ‘impact agenda’ helped agronomy – or harmed it?
Every agronomist or agricultural research institute with an interest in international development, and who has applied for a research grant in the last 15 years, will have had to develop…
Why we should argue about agronomy
“The real problem is that too many people are playing politics with agriculture, and poor people are suffering – agronomists should stick to the facts!” Organic agriculture, agroecology, Conservation Agriculture,…
Arguing about agronomy: the changing politics of agronomy research
A new article in Outlook on Agriculture explores how agronomy has been affected by social change since the 1970s. The science of agronomy informs crucial decisions on development. It is often seen…