Integrated Farming Systems and Pollution Prevention Initiatives Stimulate Co-Learning Extension Strategies

from : www.joe.org
October 2006

Introduction

The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) brought the most dramatic changes to pesticide regulation since the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), including the cancellation or partial ban of several economically important organophosphate (OP) insecticides (Van Steenwyk & Zalom, 2005). Numerous alternative pest management strategies have been advanced by researchers, some new and some pre-dating the invention of OPs. Pheromone mating disruption, novel and narrow-spectrum insecticides, and biological control (in its various forms) have been demonstrated for many crops (Grafton-Cardwell, Godfrey, Chaney, & Bentley, 2005; Mills & Daane, 2005; Welter et al., 2005).

In theory, the elimination of OP pesticides should not economically disrupt agriculture (Metcalfe et al., 2002), but these alternatives challenge conventional transfer-of-technology Extension pedagogies. Whereas OP insecticides are remarkably simple to use, alternative pest management strategies are more complicated and rely more heavily on expert, ecologically based knowledge. Inserting system-oriented, ecologically based practices into conventional transfer-of-technology Extension programs has a poor record of user adoption (Röling & Wagemakers, 1998)......

In this article, we situate these alternative pest management strategies within the context of the extension of integrated farming systems while specifically analyzing Extension activities of agro-environmental partnerships in California. We argue that their organizational structure, which facilitates greater participation, has been key to their success. The shift from a "transfer of technology" model to one that includes more co-learning, facilitation, and emphasis on decision-making making can help all Extension stakeholders and improve Extension's service delivery.

This article draws from a major study of California's agro-environmental partnerships, based on 3 years of field work interviewing over 230 growers, consultants, Extensionists, scientists, regulators, and grower organization staff (Warner 2004), to highlight implications for University of California (UC) Extension practices as California agriculture moves "beyond organophosphates" (Van Steenwyk & Zalom, 2005).

Agricultural Pollution and Agro-Environmental Partnerships

Agriculture is the greatest source of non-point water pollution in the U.S. (U.S. Geological Survey, 1999), and it is under significant political pressure to address this problem, especially in highly urbanized states like California. In response, Extensionists are paying increased attention to helping growers reduce the environmental impacts of agricultural production.

In 1993, the National Research Council's Soil and Water Quality: An Agenda for Agriculture recommended that integrated farming system plans should become the basis of federal, state, and local soil and water quality programs. It argued that in "systems-level approaches to analyzing agricultural production systems . . . inherent links exist among soil quality conservation, improvements in input use efficiency, increases in resistance to erosion and runoff, and the wider use of buffer zones (107)." Alternative soil, water, and farmscape management strategies have the potential to reduce the need for and environmental impact of insecticides, but an integrated systems approach places greater demands on Extension practice and grower learning.

California uses about 25% of the nation's pesticides (Aspelin & Grube, 1999; California Department of Pesticide Regulation, 1999), so the FQPA posed a particularly serious threat to agricultural production here. In the immediate aftermath of its passage, federal, state, and private foundation dollars funded agro-environmental partnerships in California, defined as: a multi-year collaboration between scientists, growers, and a growers' organization to research and implement innovative, field-scale, agroecologically informed practices. These funding agencies created semi-privatized Extension projects to develop and extend alternative, integrated farming system practices.

Grower organizations (whether local, informal networks of growers, or statewide commodity boards) have had an active interest in Extension practice for decades, but the threat of OP loss stimulated many of them to become more active partners with Cooperative Extension to develop and promote alternatives to conventional pesticides. Over the past 15 years, 32 partnerships have emerged to develop alternative practices in 16 California commodities, engaging over 500 growers and 92 University of California scientists, Extension specialists, and farm advisors (Warner, 2006a).

Agro-environmental partnerships do not seek to eliminate agrochemical use, but rather to rationalize it according to ecological principles and help growers gain confidence in OP alternatives. Participating growers avoid ecologically disruptive pesticides to prevent pollution by using pheromone-based mating disruption; novel, narrow-spectrum insecticides; and biological control strategies to the extent economically possible. Farm advisors deploy some traditional Extension practices, such as field days and newsletters, but place additional emphasis on co-learning models, fostering social networks of innovation to do research on and exchange information about ecologically based alternative pest management strategies. Farm advisors educate growers about the rapidly developing regulatory requirements associated with pesticides and facilitate field-derived knowledge exchange about agroecological pest management techniques among growers and consultants (Table 1).

More important than individual alternative pest management techniques is the emphasis partnerships place on alternative decision-making rules. Partnerships engage growers and consultants in learning more about the ecological relationships in farming systems, how to integrate the components of their farming system (e.g., how irrigation management can influence pest pressure), and how to make decisions according to environmental as well as economic criteria. This strategy requires greater participation by growers and their consultants in the educational activities of Extension than is common with the transfer-of-technology model (Warner, 2006b).

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