DEPENDENT REPRODUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE MODES OF AGRICULTURE - ORGANIC FARMING IN NEW-ZEALAND

Recent studies of organic agriculture are characterized by an assumpti on that it is relatively easy for agribusiness to transform the meanin g of organic food and marginalize the position of small-scale organic producers. In this paper, it is argued that such studies pay insuffici ent attention to the contradictions and limitations of capitalist agri culture as established in recent and classical formulations of the agr arian question. Attempts to liberalize international trade and globali ze the food system, which are particularly evident in New Zealand, res ult in disruption of food security and quality, so the agrarian questi on remains central in contemporary agri-food research. Tempered by bio logical conditions and associated with alternative social groups, orga nic production is strongly influenced by those forces which comprise t he agrarian question, so attempts by agribusiness to manipulate the or ganic industry are fraught with contradiction Research findings from f our regional case studies in New Zealand show that small-scale organic producers are persistent, despite the increasing involvement of agrib usiness in organic agriculture.