The ox fall down: path-breaking and technology treadmills in Indian cotton agriculture
Although India’s cotton sector has been penetrated by various input- and capital-intensive methods, penetration by herbicide has been largely stymied. In Telangana State, the main obstacle has been the practice of ‘double-lining’, in which cotton plants are spaced widely to allow weeding by ox-plow....
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
26 Apr 2017
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| In: |
The journal of peasant studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 45, Issue: 7, Pages: 1272-1296 |
| ISSN: | 1743-9361 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03066150.2017.1291505 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2017.1291505
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| Author Notes: | Glenn Davis Stone & Andrew Flachs |
| Summary: | Although India’s cotton sector has been penetrated by various input- and capital-intensive methods, penetration by herbicide has been largely stymied. In Telangana State, the main obstacle has been the practice of ‘double-lining’, in which cotton plants are spaced widely to allow weeding by ox-plow. Path dependency theory primarily explains the persistence of sub-optimal practices, but double-lining is an example of an advantageous path for cash-poor farmers. However, it is being actively undermined by parties intent on expanding herbicide markets and opening a niche for next-generation genetically modified cotton. We use the case to explicate the role of treadmills in technology ‘lock-in’. We also examine how an adaptive locked-in path may be broken by external interests, drawing on recent analyses of ‘didactic’ learning by farmers. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 17.04.2020 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1743-9361 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03066150.2017.1291505 |