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Midwestern land-grant university scientists' definitions of sustainable agriculture: A delphi study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

G. Walter  and
A. Reisner
G. Walter
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Office of Agricultural Communications and Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.
A. Reisner
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Office of Agricultural Communications and Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.
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Abstract

What scientists include among the essential attributes of sustainable agricultural systems can influence the development of agricultural research agendas and how research is done. Current perspectives on sustainability place varying emphasis on environmental and agrarian values and propose different amounts and kinds of change in agricultural production, agricultural science, and rural social institutions. In a delphi study, agricultural scientists at North Central region land-grant universities considered environmental management and development of new farming technologies as essential to a definition of sustainable agriculture, but gave little importance to social or scientific restructuring. With some qualifications, we characterize their view of sustainability as a stewardship perspective that does not include social considerations and explicitly rejects radical social change.

Keywords

agricultural valuesdelphi methodscience policysociology of scienceland-grant universities
Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 1994 , pp. 109 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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