Teams up with USDA and academia to make technology work for organic
The Organic Center is teaming up with the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service; California State University, Fresno; and Purdue University on a free virtual conference series and hackathon examining technology to address complex issues for organic agriculture. Because organic farmers are prohibited from using common conventional materials such as most synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, the tools available for them to tackle common agricultural challenges are limited.
Organic farming is made up of a diversity of operations. This raises such issues as the accessibility of technology for small- and low-income farms, equity around tech use and adoption, and inclusion of marginalised farming communities in the development of AgTech.
“There are several innovative technologies are being developed that are or could be leveraged by the organic sector,” said Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center. “However, the uniqueness of organic has created certain challenges to more organic farmers using ag technology. This series will address these issues.”
The first conference of the series, titled “Organic Confluences Conference: Connecting Organic and AgTech” will be held on December 2, and will highlight the potential for technology to support the organic sector, including a panel of organic farmers talking about the experiences and needs for technology and a panel of AgTech community members discussing the intersection of their work with organic.
The second conference, titled ’Organic Confluences Conference: Equity and Access in AgTech’ will be held on February 10, 2022, will examine potential pitfalls concerning equity in AgTech, opportunities for small-farm AgTech access, historical and current examples of AgTech exacerbating the pre-existing structures of racism in the food system, and methods for analyzing AgTech’s fit within organic ideals.
The Organic Center will host a hackathon in collaboration with the Gathering for Open Ag Technology (GOAT) on February 24-26, 2022. This event will engage the community in collaborative computer programming focused on open-source solutions to the challenges faced by organic farmers.
