Etno agronomy, traditional agricultural technology and rural development

Abstract

The dominance of infra subsistence production units in our national agriculture is based on traditional agricultural knowledge in spite of the government attempts during the last six decades to modernize them by means of technical assistance programs supported by research and higher education on agricultural fields, which favors a western conception of science, but does not solve the problem of marginalization and poverty of a large number of farmers. This is the scenario despite an important display of economic resources and public policies, which poses a series of questions looking for alternatives on the academic perspective, where an etno science approach may be useful. The etno agronomy is set here as the scientific field to continue the traditional agricultural studies already started in the 70s by Efraím Hernández Xolocotzi, at the National College of Agriculture (ena). Different definitions given to etno agronomy are reviewed under the conception of an etno science linked to the agricultural and rural development of farming communities. At the same time, views and goals of farmers are considered in the sense of contributing to build a development alternative which is forced in its implementation through technical assistance programs.