What do agricultural professionals think about organic agriculture and biotechnology?

Summary

Traditionally, agricultural professionals have had a pessimistic view about the future and viability of organic agriculture (OA). Such views may be because OA represents a new ‘paradigm’ in agriculture. This study assessed the current state of views of Australian agricultural professionals in public bodies towards OA and biotechnology and considered how increased OA knowledge and experience influences attitudes. One of the key findings was that professionals who have increased OA knowledge are more likely to be positive towards the innovation, as well as being more likely to be negative towards biotechnology. Overall, views towards OA amongst professionals seem to be slowly changing, indicating that organics as a new ‘scientific paradigm’ may be becoming more accepted.