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August 16, 1999
By Jennifer McNulty
Participants in a new two-week short course on agroecology offered by UCSC's Center
for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems hail from all over the world: Morocco,
Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, Nepal, Colombia, Costa
Rica, American Samoa, and the United States.
The list reflects the growing worldwide interest in--and need for--the principles
and practices of agroecology that are being developed at places like the center
and UCSC's Department of Environmental Studies.
"Agroecology is of intense interest now because of the failures of modern agricultural
technology--for large-scale farmers but especially for small farmers," said
Erle Ellis, a postgraduate researcher with the Environmental Studies Department at
UCSC and one of three main organizers of the course. "Agroecology deals especially
well with farming systems at the scale used on traditional small farms and in developing
countries."
Agroecology also addresses the unwanted environmental consequences that have been
generated by the heavy use of chemical inputs that is associated with conventional
agriculture. "Agroecology is an ecological approach that emphasizes the long-term
management of agroecosystems," said Ellis.
Among the registered participants in the short course are farmers, members of development
organizations, academics, and graduate students. Only 35 individuals were accepted
into the program, which will include lectures, demonstrations, and field applications.
Most activities will take place at the UCSC Farm, although one field trip to local
farms and farmers' markets is planned.
The main instructors will be Stephen Gliessman, the Alfred E. Heller Professor of
Agroecology in the Environmental Studies Department at UCSC; Ellis; and Miguel Altieri,
a professor of insect biology at UC Berkeley. They will be joined by several other
instructors and specialists from the UCSC Center for Agroecology, the University
of California, and other state institutions and organizations.