Rethinking ‘responsibility’ in precision agriculture innovation: lessons from an interdisciplinary research team

Authors

Edward Prutzer, Virginia Tech,
Maaz Gardezi, Virginia Tech
Donna M. Rizzo, University of Vermont
Mary Emery, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Scott Merrill, University of Vermont
Benjamin E.K. Ryan, University of Vermont
Panagiotis D. Oikonomou, University of Vermont
Juan P. Alvez, University of Vermont
Damilola T. Adereti, University of Vermont
Rubaina Anjum, University of Vermont
Appala R. Badireddy, University of Vermont
Dwarika Bhattarai, University of Vermont
Skye Brugler, University of Vermont
Nicholas Cheney, University of Vermont
David Clay, University of Vermont
Sharon Clay, University of Vermont
Ali Dadkhah, University of Vermont
Joshua W. Faulkner, University of Vermont
Deepak R. Joshi, South Dakota State University
Christopher Koliba, University of Vermont
John McMaine, South Dakota State University
Semhar Michael, South Dakota State University
Sardorbek Musayev, University of Vermont
Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, University of Vermont
George Pinder, University of Vermont
Taylor Ricketts, University of Vermont
Andrew W. Schroth, University of Vermont
Scott Turnbull, University of Vermont
Asim Zia, University of Vermont

ORCID IDs

Maaz Gardezi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0915-2652

Date of this Version

2023

Citation

JOURNAL OF RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION

https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2023.2202093

Comments

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

Abstract

We examine the interactions, decisions, and evaluations of an interdisciplinary team of researchers tasked with developing an artificial intelligence-based agricultural decision support system that can provide farmers site-specific information about managing nutrients on their land. We answer the following research questions: (1) How does a relational perspective help an interdisciplinary team conceptualize ‘responsibility’ in a project that develops precision agriculture (PA)? and (2) What are some lessons for a research team embarking on a similar interdisciplinary technology development project? We show that how RI is materialized in practice within an interdisciplinary research team can produce different understandings of responsibility, notions of measurement of ‘matter,’ and metrics of success. Future interdisciplinary projects should (1) create mechanisms for project members to see how power and privilege are exercised in the design of new technology and (2) harness social sciences as a bridge between natural sciences and engineering for organic and equitable collaborations.