Wednesday, November 08, 2006
A Pixel Is Not A Picture
By Michael Kiely, Director, The Institute of Land Ethics
The title of this post and this blog - "A Pixel Is Not A Picture" - is a plea for a new approach to agricultural science. A picture is made up of pixels in the same way a cropping or grazing system is made up of parts. Modern agricultural science is conducted under the basic principle that, by isolating and studying individual elements of a system, the scientist can solve a problem involving those elements. A weed becomes prevalent. It is grown in planter boxes in scientific isolation from the context in which it occurs and various substances are applied to it until one is identified that effectively kills the weed. The substance becomes a product that is widely applied and it works. The weeds die. But new species of weeds take their place. And other unintended consequences occur, such as the death of microflora in the soil that are important to its fertility. Clearly, science is efffective when it focuses on the isolated elements or pixels. But just as clearly, science could be even more beneficial if, instead of a pure 'isolationist' approach, it used an 'integrated' approach. Move from trusting that knowledge of the pixel will explain the picture.
Aristotle's concept that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, has no place in modern scientific enquiry because it cannot be reduced to a single variable to be studied.
In the 50 years in which a science-driven industrial model of agriculture has dominated, the following phenomena have been observed: the natural resource base has been degraded to the point it is considered by governments as a national crisis; soil fertility has collapsed, with half the soil carbon lost in the last 20 years; thousands of farm families have been forced off the land under a 'get big or get out' regime; profits have not flowed to growers but to chemical and equipment companies. It is unfair to blame science (as a pixel) for this state of affairs. But scientific method, which demands that the scientist operate in a contextural vacuum, has played an important part in painting the entire picture.
Agriculture is the single largest human interaction with the environment.
This blog is a plea for a more integrative approach to scientific methodology. To the scientific community, we say: stop expelling those in your ranks who adopt the heresy of Holism. Start a conversation across the divide to bridge the gap. There is no time to squabble. A new paradigm of land management and production is needed for agriculture to survive and thrive in the new climate conditions.
By Michael Kiely, Director, The Institute of Land Ethics
The title of this post and this blog - "A Pixel Is Not A Picture" - is a plea for a new approach to agricultural science. A picture is made up of pixels in the same way a cropping or grazing system is made up of parts. Modern agricultural science is conducted under the basic principle that, by isolating and studying individual elements of a system, the scientist can solve a problem involving those elements. A weed becomes prevalent. It is grown in planter boxes in scientific isolation from the context in which it occurs and various substances are applied to it until one is identified that effectively kills the weed. The substance becomes a product that is widely applied and it works. The weeds die. But new species of weeds take their place. And other unintended consequences occur, such as the death of microflora in the soil that are important to its fertility. Clearly, science is efffective when it focuses on the isolated elements or pixels. But just as clearly, science could be even more beneficial if, instead of a pure 'isolationist' approach, it used an 'integrated' approach. Move from trusting that knowledge of the pixel will explain the picture.
Aristotle's concept that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, has no place in modern scientific enquiry because it cannot be reduced to a single variable to be studied.
In the 50 years in which a science-driven industrial model of agriculture has dominated, the following phenomena have been observed: the natural resource base has been degraded to the point it is considered by governments as a national crisis; soil fertility has collapsed, with half the soil carbon lost in the last 20 years; thousands of farm families have been forced off the land under a 'get big or get out' regime; profits have not flowed to growers but to chemical and equipment companies. It is unfair to blame science (as a pixel) for this state of affairs. But scientific method, which demands that the scientist operate in a contextural vacuum, has played an important part in painting the entire picture.
Agriculture is the single largest human interaction with the environment.
This blog is a plea for a more integrative approach to scientific methodology. To the scientific community, we say: stop expelling those in your ranks who adopt the heresy of Holism. Start a conversation across the divide to bridge the gap. There is no time to squabble. A new paradigm of land management and production is needed for agriculture to survive and thrive in the new climate conditions.
