À quels territoires s'intéressent les agronomes? Le point de vue d'un géographe tropicaliste

Abstract

Following a brief definition of the concept of territory as used here and an analysis of the intellectual roots and reasons that motivated the agronomists' interest in it, the author identifies different ways of analysing and acting upon territories. Based on examples from tropical agricultural research, P. Caron outlines four approaches to the territory: (i) regional ecosystem agronomy, (ii) agronomy focusing on technical issues at the territory level, (iii) territorial agronomy, (iv) integrative agronomy. The debates on the ways of taking the territory into account highlight the difficult identity transformation within agronomy. What is defined as territory is not self-evident, but is not often debated. Recognition of the diversity of paradigms and methods by agronomists is a necessary step towards dealing with issues linked to the management of territorial resources. Further work is needed to recapture the objective of agronomy as an integrative science. © NSS-Dialogues, EDP Sciences 2005.