Reading List

1. Burgess, Warren R. and Huntley, James R. Europe and America--The Next Ten Years. New York: Walker, 1970.

2. Calleo, David P. The Atlantic Fantasy: The U.S., NATO, and Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1970.

3. Cleveland, Harlan. NATO: The Transatlantic Bargain. New York: Harper, 1970.

4. Holt, Stephen. Six European States: the countries of the EEC and their political systems. New York: Taplinger, 1970.

5. Laquer, Walter Z. The Rebirth of Europe. New York: Holt, 1970.

6. Lieber, Robert J. British Politics and European Unity: parties, elites, and pressure groups. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1970.

7.

Mayne, Richard. The Recovery of Europe: from devastation to unity. New York: Harper, 1970.

8. Parker, Geoffrey. An Economic Geography of the Common Market. New York: Praeger, 1969.

9. Servan-Schreiber, Jean Jacques. The American Challenge. New York: Atheneum Pub., 1968.

10. Shirer, William L. The Collapse of the Third Republic. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969.

11. Stanley, Timothy W. and Darnell, M. Whitt. Detente Diplomacy: The U.S. and European Security in the 1970's. New York: Dunellen Co., Inc., 1970.

12. Tomasson, Richard F.

Sweden: Prototype of Modern Society.

New York: Random, 1970.

WORLD AGRICULTURE

The current food problems of the world are associated with the population explosion, problems of production, and inadequate distribution facilities. Food supplies in the developed areas are normally steady and abundant. The less-developed areas have various degrees of shortages even though production per capita is rising.

There is little evidence that distribution problems will be reduced substantially in the near future. Population in the lessdeveloped areas is expected to increase from the present two plus billion to nearly five billion by the end of the century. Obviously these less-developed areas must substantially increase their food production capacity, without delay, if projected population is to be sustained.

World food production can be expanded by increasing cultivated acreage in some cases and by increasing the yield in all countries.

Prior to 1950 the principal means of expanding output was by increasing the acreage; however, since 1950 acreage under cultivation in many countries has been reduced while yields have increased. In the last ten years 80 percent of increased production has been attributed to higher yields and 20 percent has resulted from additions to cultivated land.

As the population increases, greater pressures will be placed on more intensive cultivation of the limited supply of arable land. Capital will be increased as a substitute for land in the production mix of land, labor, and capital. This implies greater inputs of fertilizer, pesticides, improved strains of seeds, and equipment in combination with vastly improved technology.

Land is the most critical element in the food production equation, because it is limited in supply. Less than 10 percent, or three billion acres, of the earth's 33 billion acres of land produces crops in a given season. Seventy-one percent of the total is used

to produce grain, 21 percent of the cultivated acres produce other foods, and the balance of 7 percent produce non-food crops such as cotton.

Grains such as rice and wheat are the two primary sources of food energy. They supply 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of the total calorie intake and all grains combined supply 53 percent of the total. The remaining 47 percent of the calories are consumed as indirect forms of grain such as eggs, meat, milk, and animal fat.

The world's grain trade pattern has undergone drastic revision since 1941. Prior to that time, Latin America was the leading regional net exporter of grain. Asia, the USSR, and Africa have also experienced a change from surplus grain producers to deficit traders. Only Oceania and the Americas remain as substantial grain exporters. There will be a growing dependence on these two areas in the future.

It now appears that U. S. agriculture will play a leading role in future efforts to expand the world's food supply. The United States, Canada, and Australia are emerging as the greatest bread baskets in the world. This has been made possible through dynamic developments in technology which have largely been brought about by institutions of agricultural science oriented toward national development. Their creations, discoveries, and findings were eagerly received by a free and competitive agricultural community.

Less-developed countries have not emphasized research and institutional service to agriculture. Furthermore, difficulty has been experienced in transplanting new technology, since agricultural technology is related to the local conditions under which it was developed. Technology is not readily transplanted from a temperate climate to a tropical community. Another factor limiting transfer of technology to many underdeveloped areas is the difference in intensity of the industry. In North America, where land is plentiful, technology is oriented toward maximizing output per person; whereas, in the heavily populated, less-developed areas emphasis is placed on increasing output per acre. A greater effort in less-developed areas in developing and adapting technology to local conditions is essential to the growth of their economies.

Private foundations operating in Mexico, the Philippines, and India have recently made great strides in the development of high yielding varieties of crops. These new strains have proven to be readily adaptable to many tropical areas in the developing countries.

The productivity of both agricultural land and labor varies widely between major geographic regions. Variations in productivity of labor varies more than that of land.

Densely populated countries with low income and high birth rates face the possibility of being trapped at these low standards of living. Population, historically, was maintained in equilibrium by natural forces. However, the application of modern medicine, sanitation, and immunization, in recent years, has cut infant mortality and extended the life expectancy which in turn accelerated the population growth rate. Demands for food are increasing and the supply of economically reclaimable land is nearly exhausted. Yield must be raised to meet these new demands. Marketing and distribution systems must be expanded. All this requires a great deal more capital than is presently available in the less-developed areas for rapid improvements. Although the amount of food moving from North America to food deficit areas of the world may be expected to increase, it will constitute only a small part of their future requirements.

Reading List

1. Brown, Lester R. "New Direction in World Agriculture. Foreign Agriculture, March 25, 1968, pp. 8-10.

2. Freeman, Orville L. World Without Hunger. New York: Praeger, 1968.

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3. Hayami, Yujiro. Agriculture Development: An International Perspective. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1971.

4. Mellor, John W.

The Economics of Agricultural Development.
Cornell Univ. Press, 1966.

Ithaca, N. Y.:

5. Overcoming World Hunger. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: PrenticeHall, 1969.

6. Stakman, E. C.; Bradfield, Richard; and Mangelsdorf, Paul C. Campaigns Against Hunger. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1967.

7. United Nations. Current studies and reports published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). P.O. Box 433, New York, N. Y. 10016: UNIPUB.

8. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Periodic reports on U. S. and World Agriculture. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

9. Whitney, Robert S., ed. Challenge to Agronomy for the Future. Madison, Wisc.: American Society of Agronomy, 1967.