Biotech on the Farm: Mississippi Agriculture in an Age of Proprietary Biotechnologies

Authors

  • Gabriela Pechlaner University of the Fraser Valley

Keywords:

biotechnology, agriculture, proprietary, patents, political economy

Abstract

Agricultural biotechnologies have been introduced
with a number of proprietary mechanisms: patents on seeds,
grower contracts, incentive agreements and even litigation.
Scholarly research on this proprietary framework's impact on
power relations in agriculture has primarily focused on devel?
oping countries. This article draws on 40 interviews conducted
in the agricultural community in Mississippi, United States, to
investigate the technologies' impact on agricultural production,
and farmer's response to this impact. I find that farmer's con?
trol over their production is reduced in important ways, limit?
ing their opportunities for strategic response, but some acts of
resistance in the legal forum are having a limited impact.

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Published

2022-03-10

How to Cite

Pechlaner, G. (2022). Biotech on the Farm: Mississippi Agriculture in an Age of Proprietary Biotechnologies. Anthropologica, 52(2), 291–304. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/1020

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 2 (2010): My Own Boss? Strategies of Resistance and Accommodation of Rural Producers to Neoliberal Governance

Section

Thematic Section:

License

Copyright (c) 2010 Gabriela Pechlaner

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