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legumes show dramalic
increases in both crops.
Severa! years ago in the
Philippines, the lnternational
Rice Research lnstilute (IRRI)
had amazing results
intercropping maize (corn)
and peanuts. 11 was found
these crops, suitably planled
logether, can intercept 40
percent more sunlight and
are up lo 60 percent more
productive than when either
is grown alone. As well ,
lhese two crops combined
to control pests better than
when growing alone:
peanuls attracted a spider
thal kept down stem borer
infeslation in maize.
Also, the residual nitrogen
from a harvested legume
crop, or a well fertilized soil,
can be used efficiently by a
proper second food crop in
sorne areas.
cucumber plants were found
lo produce a substance that
inhibits the weeds.
Weeding is one of the
most tedious, back-breaking
and strenuous jobs on farms
in developing nations.
Low-cost but efficient
mechanical weeders could
multiply the acreages a
small farmer could cover
with the same human effort.
Multiuse:
Fields can be
rotated belween raising
many kinds of crops and
raising livestock . Animals eat
leftover food roughage and
in turn ferlilize the fields.
And proper rotation of crops
is a good natural method to
cut down crop diseases and
pests.
countries. Sorne Filipino
farmers have been able lo
return lo !he traditionál
praclice of growing fish in
rice paddies-a practice
previously severely curtailed
by the use of pesticides.
Aquaculture of fish has
been practiced in parts of
Asia for centuries, bul !he
output has usually been low.
Recently, a successfu l
project run by the Central
lnland Fisheries lnslitute of
India was able lo increase
annual catches from hall a
ton of fish from a one
hectare (2.5 acre) single
specie pond to 10 times that
amount. They did it by
cultivating difieren! species
of fish in the same pond
under controlled conditions.
Sorne fish were bottom
feeders, others were middle
feeders, others lop feeders.
The whole area of the pond
was used efficiently.
Harvesting and Storage:
Fermentation and mold
during wet season crop
harvesting and badly
organized drying and milling
facilities, lose much grain.
Grain dryers that work for
North America may be
useless in tropical climales.
Grain bins designed for
gentle prairie winds are no
good for Africa's blazing
sun. Developing right
storage facilities for local
conditions is a great need .
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Oistribution and
Marketing:
Efficient ways to
quickly transport food lo cut
down spoilage is needed in
many nations. Good roads
are necessary lo deliver a
greater percentage of
available food lo places
where it is needed and in
good condition.
In sum, there is vast room
for cooperative agricultura!
research, development and
assistance. 11 humanity can
learn to share research and
Weeding:
Certain leafy
legumes planted with rice
also reduce !he incidence of
weeds. In one area of Wesl
Africa, it was found lhat
cucumbers planted with
other food staples controlled
weed growth. The rools of
Fish farming, too, is
another area of acreage
utilization often overlooked
in !he search for more
protein production. The UN
Food and Agricultura!
Organization estimates fish
farming in small ponds,
irrigation ditches and rice
paddies would multiply
protein production many
times over in many
Besides !he problem of
pests, great quantilies of
food are lost by improper
threshing methods and by
poor handling, storage and
food preservation.
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development in the critica!
,.
!
area of food production. the ,_
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payoff can be big in terms
g
of world peace, happiness
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and hope for all mankind.
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mated on ly
lO
percenl to 15 per–
cent of the world' s cultivators had
bcnefited from advanced agricul–
tura! know- how.
The United Nations Food and
A griculture Organization ( FAO)
estimates around two thirds of the
cultivated land in dcvel oping coun–
tri cs is not suitable for high-yi eld–
ing seeds and their high requ ire–
ments for water, fertilizer , pesti–
cides and supporting technology.
Four fifths of the farms in poor
nations are less than 12 acres and
many are only around two. Modero
tractors and combines do not fit.
April 1983
What these areas need is the
introduction of small farro machin–
er y and too1s that suppl ement
human effort, not replace it ;
machinery to increase the need for
more farm l aborers through greater
productivity, no t drive farmer s
from the land into unemployment
and urban ghettos.
Labor-intensive agri cul tu re can
often p roduce more per plot of
ground than highty mechanized
agricultu re. This is because labor–
ers on small farms can work harder
and longer on each acre. Various
combinations of gr ain and veget a-
ble crops can often double produc–
tion on a gi ven piece of land. And
multip le cropping also reduces the
farmer's risk caused by dependence
on a single crop.
Pioneer Taiwan
One of the secrets of Taiwan's suc–
cess is that rural development in
t he 1950s paced industrial develop–
ment, with rapid increases in the
earning power of small farmers as a
powerful st i mu lus on the industrial
sector. Land and credit protection
and technical assi stance have more
than doub1ed food production on
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