AGRICULTURAL ETHICS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

AGRICULTURAL ETHICS - Research Paper Example There is no any widely accepted definition of ethics and general public have different ideas about ethics. For some, ethics mean adherence to the law while for others it is adherence to the spirit. Similarly, for some it is concerned with the religious beliefs while for others it is concerned with the standards of the culture or the community. The definitions given by the enthusiasts are more complex containing some or all elements mentioned above describing what are concerned with ethics and what are not. However, the discussion here is not to focus on the accurate and widely accepted definition of ethics but about the what are the factors related to agricultural ethics. Many professionals have put considerable efforts in defining factors related to agricultural ethics. It is quite interesting that those who are engaged in agriculture or associated with farming directly like farmers or indirectly like government regulating bodies, researchers, agents, CEOs, lawmakers, industrial workers, protestors, consumers or technology developers believe that their moral ground is higher than others as they are associated with one of the most noble endeavors of the humans which is feeding the people and this provides them an extraordinary moral confidence which tends to neglect the need of examining the choices made by them (Burgess, 1998). According to ethicists Ahlstrom, Bruton & Yeh, (1997) those who are associated with the production of agriculture and those who support agricultural activities with technology have a strong belief that as they are increasing the agricultural production to meet the growing demand, they are exempted from the continuous process of political negotiation and renegotiation about the moral bargain which is the pillar of the modern society and democracy. All of them engaged in either discovery of new agricultural technologies or gene cloning or the lawmakers supporting farming with subsidies or breeding new plants or