Agroecology or modern conventional agriculture? Positions of Argentine rural extensionists

Abstract

Globally, there is growing concern about the sustainability of agricultural production models. In particular, the environmental impacts and liabilities of the application of the principles of the so-called green revolution. In contrast, agroecology is gaining followers within the framework of a different production model, albeit limited by its lower level of production per unit area. But for any of these models to become a productive practice, it is necessary for it to pass through the sieve of producers' decision-making. Thus, taking into account the key role played by extensionists in producers' decision-making, this article analyzes their personal positioning and that of the institutions they belong to in the context of the contrast between agroecology and conventional agriculture. An online questionnaire was used to survey 583 extensionists working at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology, the Undersecretariat of Family Agriculture and Territorial Development and other institutions in our country. The questionnaire included sociodemographic questions and asked to position oneself and the institution to which one belongs in a five-level Likert-type item in which agroecology and modern conventional agriculture constituted the poles. The results show that, on average, extensionists have a tendency towards the agroecological pole, while they place their institutions in an intermediate position between the two production models. In general, women, those with a degree in the social sciences and those without a university degree have a greater orientation towards agroecology.