Scott Hill: shill@grove.ufl.edu
Dorota Porazinska: dorotap@ufl.edu
Group Link: E-mail
Project Description:
Scott Hill, Department of Anthropology
Dorota Porazinska, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Problem Statement:
Agriculture has long been an important facet of the culture and economy of Florida. Today, most of Florida's agricultural systems are heavily dependent on high matter and energy inputs (water, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, fuel, etc.). While these agricultural systems have often maintained productive stability in the short term, a number of ecological, economic, social, and political issues are forcing agriculturalists to look at production and profitability issues over a long term (future generations). In fact, many issues influencing the future of Florida call into question the very notion of sustainability. Some of the factors threatening the persistence of current Florida agriculture are pest outbreaks, pollution and availability of water, erratic weather conditions, changes of regional and global markets, as well as development of new policies aiming for environmental protection. The challenge of sustainability has now been enunciated for a least ten years. In response, many farmers, agricultural scientists, environmentalists, and policy makers are grappling with proposed solutions, debates, and divergent objectives to make the road toward sustainability interesting and less difficult.
Project Objectives:
Agriculture in Florida is much too broad a topic
for this class. To narrow the scope, this project will focus on sugar
farming in Florida (a model of a conventional highly managed agricultural
ecosystem). The project will begin with the identification of the
primary ecological and social variables driving adaptive cycles of this
agroecosystem at various hierarchical levels of organization (microscopic,
plant, field, farm, and regional). We will also attempt to identify ecological,
economic, and social aspects that currently advocate or counter the transition
to more sustainable management techniques. To accomplish this latter
goal we will contact farmers, scientists, and policy makers to incorporate
the insights and roadblocks identified by the people who are actively grappling
with these issues.