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Agricultural Development–
AWide Open Field
Food scientists are
discovering that mankind is
nowhere near !he limits of
plan!, livestock and soil
productivity. There is still
room l o boost yields and
learn how lo use more
efficiently !he earth's
acreage for animal and crop
husbandry. Here are !he
tacts from around the world:
lrrigation:
For !he tropical
farmer, water control is
crucial. lnstead of costly
enormous dams, farmers
can frequently build smaller
earthen dams and dig
irrigation ditches.
Enormous amounts of
irrigation water are los! lo
evaporalion before use.
Smaller bu! deeper holding
tanks would be more
effective in conserving
water. Proper water
utilizalion and conservation
can allow the farmer to plant
two or three crops instead
ot
one.
Pests:
More emphasis is
needed on finding natural
organisms and natural
chemicals that kili pests and
don'! hurt plants.
Petroleum-based chemicals
are costly and often are
dangerous to humans and
!he environment. lnsects and
animal pests often ea! more
crops !han do people.
Reducing these losses can
easily raise
present
yields in
many areas as much as 30
percent l o 50 percent
Fertilizer.·
Particular
emphasis needs
to be placed on developing
fertilizers that are not
petroleum-based. In Asia,
man-made urea (nitrogen)
from petroleum or natural
gas is expensive. Manure
and composts (crop and
vegetative wastes) could be
utilized instead of burned for
fuel. Building a compost bin
or ditch is cheap and easy.
Rice farmers in Asia have
found as much as 90
percent of fertilizer is los! if
spread across the top of a
wet paddy. But mixing
fert il izer wilh soil (called the
"mudball method") and
packing it down next to the
roots reduces by hall the
amount of fertilizer needed.
11 also increases
employment for laborers.
lntercropping and
Multicropping:
One of the
cheapest methods of pes!
and plan! disease control is
intercropping. lntercropping
is planting different kinds of
crops in alternate rows or in
various close associalions
on small acreages. Each
crop acts as a barrier to !he
spread of insect pests or
plan! diseases affecting the
other crop.
This planting method was
widely practiced for
centuries by Asían farmers.
Yet only recently has
scientific evidence been
found lo support il
Unfortunately, in recen!
years Western agricultura!
development has tended lo
push monoculture
techniques on farmers. The
resul l is increased insect
and plan! disease problems.
Multicropping is planting
more !han one crop (of !he
same kind or of various
kinds) during a growing
season. This is possible in
!he tropics and subtropics
because of !he abundance
of sunshine throughout !he
year. The major constraint is
water availability and
sufficient ferli lizer or soil
nutrients.
Recen! intercrop and
multicrop research is
showing that various
combinations of grain and
vegetable crops can often
double production on a
given piece of land. Much
research needs to be
devoted to the best crop
combinations and
possibil ities for every soil
and local condition.
In sorne areas, alternate
rows of cereals and
storage and markets.
lt
mcans bctter
rural hcalth care, clean water devcl–
opment, schools and homes. Suffi–
cient supplies of essent ial food , pure
water , health care and hygiene are
necessary for peoples to have the
energy to produce.
The task involves devel opment of
effi c i ent produc tion systems for
ever y c rop, ever y season , every
region in every nat i on.
lt
means
learning about t he best secds, about
water management, soi l conserva–
tion, ferti l izers and technology for
hundreds of farmi ng envi ronments.
And thc best animal husbandry
12
systems that enrich, not destroy,
the envi ronment.
What a di fferent world it could
be if there were mor e cooperat i ve
worldwide research bctween ad–
vanced and devel oping nations.
Most needed now i n many hun–
g ry nations are crops that rcquire
less water , l ess costl y fer tilizers,
t han go into the "Creen Revolu–
t ion." Food experts warn that t he
G reen Revolu tion has, for all i ts
marvel ous y i elds, only temporarily
boug ht us t i me lo tackle t he
world's food product ion problems.
simply bypassed the vast majority
of small, poor farmers who cannot
afford it. Too often what 's hap–
pened is t his: T he i ncreased profit–
ability of the hybri d strains of low–
er-pro tein wheat , rice and corn
havc lcd l arger farmers who can
afford thcm to devot e more and
more acreage to these seeds. Less
and less is devoted to growing of
staple vegetabl cs- such as lentils,
peas and beans- whi ch are the only
sources of protei ns for many.
But the Creen Revolution has
Severa! ycars ago, Nor man Bor–
laug, notcd agri cul t u r a! scientist
and developer of hybrid seeds, esti–
The
PLAIN TRUTH