The battle for agricultural production

THE basic question is whether agriculture could play its part in such an enterprise. Could food (and fiber and forest) production be expanded at the necessary speed? This leads immediately to a consideration of the fundamental problems of agricultural development—soil fertility, water supplies, improved crop and animal husbandry, economic incentives, and so on. These big problems have been stated, debated, and restated in many places and at many times. The reasons for briefly summarizing them here again are that (a) on the evidence of national food and agriculture programs it appears that many governments have not given these problems sufficiently serious attention in the light of the world’s food needs, and (b) the nature of the problems must be kept clearly in mind in order to judge what next steps should be taken to deal with them.

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Responsible Consumption and Production

Decent Work and Economic Growth