Brown Tad
Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Plants People Planet. 2024 Sep;6(5):1014-1023. doi: 10.1002/ppp3.10450. Epub 2023 Dec 7.
Studies that show how empire influenced the development of plant genetics add to the established history of genetics and 20th-century agricultural science. One approach to broadening this history is to consider the contributions of students studying abroad and their greater careers back home. Research agendas differed between and within institutions, much as they do today. This article explores the postgraduate education of an Indian groundnut breeder. It highlights the structural challenges faced by researchers at agricultural departments who sought promotion through education and examines the consequences for plant breeding and for farmers.
Through the biography of V.K. Badami, this article contributes to debates about genetics and plant breeding in the history of science. Badami, an accomplished breeder in the Mysore Department of Agriculture, took a leave to study genetics at the University of Cambridge. His professors nearly failed him, yet Badami's groundnut breeding experiments proved influential for Indian farmers as well as advances in crop science. This history adds to the thesis that academic genetics varied in support of professional plant breeding by comparing institutional expections between Mysore and Cambridge.The argument is developed by reading Badami's student records along with his groundnut breeding experiments in South India.The study connects the disciplinary history of genetics to plant breeding for the British empire.Badami's experience at Cambridge is indicative of the power relationship between academic genetics and imperial plant breeding in the early 20th century. In this case, his commitments as an Indian agricultural officer conflicted with the discipline's devotion to quantitative analysis.
展示帝国如何影响植物遗传学发展的研究丰富了遗传学既定历史以及20世纪农业科学的历史。拓宽这段历史的一种方法是考虑出国留学的学生及其回国后的更广泛职业生涯所做的贡献。机构之间以及机构内部的研究议程各不相同，如今也是如此。本文探讨了一位印度花生育种家的研究生教育经历。它突出了农业部门研究人员在通过教育寻求晋升时所面临的结构性挑战，并审视了对植物育种和农民的影响。
通过V.K. 巴达米的生平，本文为科学史上关于遗传学和植物育种的辩论做出了贡献。巴达米是迈索尔农业部门一位有成就的育种家，他请假前往剑桥大学学习遗传学。他的教授差点没让他及格，但巴达米的花生育种实验对印度农民以及作物科学的进步都产生了影响。这段历史通过比较迈索尔和剑桥的机构期望，进一步支持了学术遗传学在支持专业植物育种方面存在差异的论点。通过阅读巴达米的学生记录以及他在南印度的花生育种实验来展开这一论点。该研究将遗传学的学科历史与大英帝国的植物育种联系起来。巴达米在剑桥的经历体现了20世纪初学术遗传学与帝国植物育种之间的权力关系。在这种情况下，他作为一名印度农业官员的职责与该学科对定量分析的专注相冲突。
