The history and future of agricultural experiments

Abstract

An agricultural experiment is usually associated with a scientific method for testing certain agricultural phenomena. A central point in the work of Paul Richards is that experimentation is at the heart of agricultural practice. The reason why agricultural experiments are something different for farmers and agronomists is not their capacity to experiment as such but the embedding of experiments in a specific ecological, material and institutional environment. Using a historical perspective, changes are examined in the organization of agricultural experiments focusing on the Netherlands and colonial Indonesia during the first half of the 20th century and the international agricultural research institutes for the period thereafter. The results show a gradual shift in the role of experiments in the connection between science and practice. Initially, the link was considered to be established through various forms of experiments, rooted in an integrated social and technical understanding of agronomy. Gradually, this turned into a connection primarily established through various forms of communication. Recent work of Richards incorporates ideas that address key issues emerging from the history of agricultural experiments, dealing with an integrated social and technical understanding of agriculture.

Keywords:

• Agricultural science
• Farming practice
• Experimentation
• Research policy
• Scientific disciplines

Notes

1 “From experience we learned that nowadays the small farmer is doing much better and, even without being chased, cultivates his field even better than before, if only his time is not taken by services for cash crops, colonial or village elders.” [14: 8; translation HM].

2 Lovink openly criticized Treub's approach. “The question is not what maximum possible amount of rice can grow on a certain area, but how it will be possible, once acquainted with rice cultivation as conducted by the Javanese, to increase together with the Javanese farmer his rice yields economically, taken into account his development, workforce and his capital.” [20: 387; translation HM].

3 Johnston was a (critical) follower of the founder of agricultural chemistry Liebig and an influential figure in Dutch agricultural science [21,22].

4 In January 2009 Richards organized a workshop in Wageningen that focused on experiments in social science.