University of Groningen Mind and Soil Rosales Carreón, Jesus
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University of Groningen Mind and soil Rosales Carreón, Jesus IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2012 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Rosales Carreón, J. (2012). Mind and soil. University of Groningen, SOM research school. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 23-09-2021 Mind and Soil Knowledge Aspects of Sustainable Agriculture Jesús Rosales Carreón Publisher: University of Groningen Groningen, The Netherlands Printer: Ipskamp Drukkers B.V. Enschede, The Netherlands ISBN: 978-90-367-5558-0(book) 978-90-367-5559-7 (e-book) © 2012 Jesús Rosales Carreón All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, without prior written permission of the author. Mind and Soil Knowledge Aspects of Sustainable Agriculture Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Economie en Bedrijfskunde aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. E. Sterken, in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 14 juni 2012 om 12.45 uur door Jesús Rosales Carreón geboren op 21 december 1974 te Mexico City, Mexico Promotores: Prof. dr. R.J.J.M. Jorna Prof. dr. ir. R.J.F. van Haren Copromotor: Dr. ir. N.R. Faber Beoordelingscommissie: Prof. dr. ir. A.J.M. Schoot Uiterkamp Prof. dr. D. Strijker Prof. dr. J.G. Meunier To the engine and source of sustainability in my life My (little) sister, Tamara CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Challenges ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Dissertation Outline............................................................................................................... 8 2 AGRICULTURE ....................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Agricultural Systems ........................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Brief History of Agriculture ................................................................................................ 13 2.3.1 The Earliest Domesticates in the Near East .................................................................. 14 2.3.2 Spread of Near Eastern Agriculture to Central Europe ................................................ 14 2.3.3 Agriculture in the West (300 BC until 1900 AD) ........................................................ 15 2.3.4 Conventional Agriculture (Twentieth Century) ........................................................... 16 2.4 Agriculture in the Netherlands ............................................................................................ 17 2.4.1 Historical development ................................................................................................. 17 2.4.2 Future of the Dutch Agriculture ................................................................................... 20 2.5 Effects of Agriculture .......................................................................................................... 21 2.6 The Green Revolution ......................................................................................................... 23 2.6.1 Soil degradation ............................................................................................................ 24 2.6.2 Irrigation ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.6.3 Pesticides ...................................................................................................................... 28 2.6.4 Industrial Production of Soil Nutrients ......................................................................... 30 2.6.5 Social Concerns ............................................................................................................ 31 2.6.6 Genetically Modified Organisms.................................................................................. 31 2.7 Outlook after the Green Revolution .................................................................................... 33 3 SUSTAINABILITY ................................................................................................................... 37 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 37 3.2 The Meanings of Sustainability .......................................................................................... 37 i 3.2.1 Disciplinary Approaches within Sustainability ........................................................... 41 3.3 Systems Theory ................................................................................................................... 44 3.3.1 Systems Characteristics ................................................................................................ 45 3.4 Systemic Perspective for Sustainability .............................................................................. 47 3.5 Systemic Perspective in Agriculture ................................................................................... 49 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 53 4 KNOWLEDGE .......................................................................................................................... 55 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 55 4.2 Knowledge and its Relevance in Agriculture ...................................................................... 55 4.2.1 Knowledge Approach ................................................................................................... 56 4.3 Cognitive Science ................................................................................................................ 61 4.4 Information Processors ........................................................................................................ 62 4.4.1 Mental Representations ................................................................................................ 64 4.4.2 Reasoning by Mental Representations ......................................................................... 66 4.5 Content and Process of Knowledge .................................................................................... 67 4.5.1 Knowledge of Sustainability ........................................................................................ 68 4.5.2 Sustainability of Knowledge ........................................................................................ 69 4.6 Knowledge Modeling .......................................................................................................... 70 4.7 Knowledge Elicitation ......................................................................................................... 72 4.7.1 Cognitive Mapping ....................................................................................................... 73 4.7.2 Protocol Analysis .......................................................................................................... 75 4.8 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 76 5 CONCEPTUAL MODEL .......................................................................................................... 79 5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 79 5.2 Knowledge at the Heart of Sustainability ........................................................................... 79 5.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................. 82 5.4 Influence of Personal Characteristics of Farmers in Agricultural Practices