Contested Agronomy: Agricultural Research in a Changing World

Challenges to food security have renewed interest in agricultural research, in which agronomy is a core element. The editors of this book seek to contextualize the production, validation, communication and use of agronomic knowledge through a political analysis of agronomic research which they label political agronomy. In doing so, they aim to understand the incentives, prioritizations, and perspectives of agronomic research as it faces contestation in peer-reviewed journals, in public critique from organizations, and in national and subnational committees. Chapters provide case studies which portray the value of a political agronomy perspective in the analysis of agricultural development, highlighting issues such as conservation agriculture, rice intensification, and biofortification.