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Rhythms of the herd: Long term dynamics in seed choice by Indian farmers

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  • Stone, Glenn Davis
  • Flachs, Andrew
  • Diepenbrock, Christine

Abstract

Scholars in many disciplines have approached the question of how humans combine environmental learning (or empirical assessments) and social learning (or emulation) in choosing technologies. As both a consumer item and the subject of local indigenous knowledge, commercial crop seeds provide a valuable window into these processes. Previous research on seed choices by cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, uncovered short-term seed fads, or herding, indicating agricultural deskilling in which environmental learning had broken down. Unknown was if the faddism (and the underlying deskilling) would continue or even be exacerbated by the spread of genetically modified seeds. Data covering 11 years of seed choices in the same sample villages are now available; we combine analysis of this unusual data set with ethnographic observation. We find that herding has continued and intensified. We also find an unexpected emergent pattern of cyclical fads; these resemble classic models of successive innovation adoption where periodicity is introduced from outside the system, but we argue that it periodicity is actually generated by an internal dynamic.

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  • Stone, Glenn Davis & Flachs, Andrew & Diepenbrock, Christine, 2014. "Rhythms of the herd: Long term dynamics in seed choice by Indian farmers," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 26-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:36:y:2014:i:c:p:26-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2013.10.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Zeng, Yangmei & Zhang, Junbiao & He, Ke, 2019. "Effects of conformity tendencies on households’ willingness to adopt energy utilization of crop straw: Evidence from biogas in rural China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 573-584.
    2. Bhim Reddy & Ranjit Prakash & Busam Monika Reddy, 2021. "Dynamics of Agricultural Labour in Small-Farm Economy: Work, Gender and Technologies in Cotton Production in Telangana," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(1), pages 49-71, March.
    3. Katharina Najork & Susheel Gadela & Padmarao Nadiminti & Sreeramulu Gosikonda & Raghava Reddy & Ejnavarzala Haribabu & Markus Keck, 2021. "The Return of Pink Bollworm in India’s Bt Cotton Fields: Livelihood Vulnerabilities of Farming Households in Karimnagar District," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 21(1), pages 68-85, January.
    4. Glover, Dominic & Kim, Sung Kyu & Stone, Glenn Davis, 2020. "Golden Rice and technology adoption theory: A study of seed choice dynamics among rice growers in the Philippines," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Klara Fischer & Camilla Eriksson, 2016. "Social Science Studies on European and African Agriculture Compared: Bringing Together Different Strands of Academic Debate on GM Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Ramani, Shyama V. & Thutupalli, Ajay, 2015. "Emergence of controversy in technology transitions: Green Revolution and Bt cotton in India," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 198-212.
    7. Glenn Stone & Andrew Flachs, 2014. "The problem with the farmer’s voice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(4), pages 649-653, December.
    8. Jianhua Wang & Yuanyuan Deng & Hanyu Diao, 2018. "Market Returns, External Pressure, and Safe Pesticide Practice—Moderation Role of Information Acquisition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, August.

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