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1、4MovingfromYesterday'sAgriculturalTechnology:AlternativeFarmingSystemsinPerspectiveI.GarthYoungbergINTRODUCTIONThe1983magazinearticlewasentitled'UpdatingOrganicFarming:NewLooksatOldWays'.Itbeganwiththesewords:'There'safairlycommonbeliefinmostagriculturalcirc
2、lestodaythatfarmingwithoutchemicalsishorse-and-buggytechnology-somethingthatonlystarry-eyed"back-to-the-landers"doonlittleweed-infestedpatchesofground'.Onthecontrary,however,theauthorquicklynotedthatheandthemagazine'sothereditors,whilepreparingthearticle,had
3、'talkedtomanyfarmerswhoareproducinggoodcropsonlargeacreageswithoutusinganypesticidesorsyntheticfertilizers'.Thewriterwentontopointoutthatmodernorganicfarmersare'goodmanagers.Theyusemodernequipment.Theirfieldsarenotover•grownwithweedsorriddledbyinsects.Genera
4、lly,theiryieldsaresomewhatbelowaverageforthearea,butsoareproductioncosts'(Kessler,1983).Theseobservationsarenoteworthyforanumberofreasons.First,thearticledidnotappearinthealternativeagriculturepress.ItwaswrittenbyKarlKessler,veteranregionaleditorforTheFurrow
5、,ahighlyrespectedconventionalfarmmagazinepublishedbyDeereandCompanyanddistributedtoconventionalfarmersthroughlistsprovidedbylocalJohnDeeremachinerydealers.Second,whiletheadvocatesandpractitionersofalternativeagriculturehavelongknownofitsmoderntechnicalcharac
6、ter,economicperformance,andoveralllevelofsuccess,thisarticle,likescoresofothersthathaveappearedrecentlyintheconventionalfarmpress(Risser,1984;Swoboda,1984;Holmberg,1985;Henkes,1985),revealsconven•tionalagriculture'sgrowinginterestinthepotentialroleofalterna•
7、tivefarmingsystemsinmodernproductionagriculture.Third,theD.F.Hadwigeretal.(eds.),PublicPolicyandAgriculturalTechnology©PolicyStudiesOrganization198754AlternativeFarmingSystemsinPerspectivearticleaddressedanumberofthelingeringmisconceptionsandmisunderstanding
8、swhichcontinuetoimpedethewidescaleadoptionofalternativefarmingsystemsintheUSAandabroad.Manyconven•tionalfarmers,agriculturalscientistsandpolicy-makerscontinuetoholdthemistakenviewthatalternative
