Optimizing stewardship of the land?
Digital agriculture and the ideology of optimization in Canadian policy and media discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v11i3.685Keywords:
Digital agriculture, nitrogen fertilizer, optimization, sustainable agricultureAbstract
This research considers the ways in which digital agriculture (DA) technologies (like robotic machinery, big data applications, farm management software platforms and drones) fit into discourses of sustainable agriculture in the Canadian political and media landscape. To undertake this research, I conducted a discourse analysis of relevant government and media materials published between 2016 and 2022. What became evident was an ideology of optimization, which works to communicate that environmental sustainability needs to and will be optimized using DA technologies. I then consider how these findings are related to the federal fertilizer emissions reduction target, aiming to reduce emissions arising from fertilizer application in agricultural contexts by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. I argue that discourse regarding this target deploys the ideology of optimization to keep current systems of fertilizer use in place, solidifying further the industrial and productivist paradigm of agriculture in Canada.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Sarah Marquis
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