This project examines the effects of GM seeds on the ‘indigenous management skill’ (IMS) that is crucial to the productivity and sustainability of small-scale crop cultivation. The project is a collaboration between IDS Fellow Dominic Glover and American anthropologist Glenn Davis Stone of Washington University, St. Louis.
The researchers are comparing the small-scale cultivation systems and practices of rice and cotton to reveal the dynamics of IMS; they will also compare rice cultivation in India and the Philippines; and potentially compare rice cultivation practices before and after introduction of ‘Golden Rice’, a rice variety genetically engineered to express beta carotene (pro-vitamin A) in its grains.
Under this research, Dominic Glover will carry out technographic research (concisely, the study of ‘technology-in-use’) in the Philippines. Field research will focus on a range of types of rice and cotton farmers in order to develop a deeper understanding of farming skill, sustainable farm management and the impacts of GM crops.
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