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AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
 Based on united nations report, by the
end of 2000, there would be 65
countries in the Third World which
could not feed their peoples, and Africa
would be the greatest hit. Experts
claim that the resources of the earth
have the capacity to feed a population
several times bigger than the present
one.

 There are pervasive institutional


defects in agriculture that greatly
contribute to the inefficiency of the
farmers.

 Most resources belong to few family in


HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
 The word agriculture was derived from the
Latin word ager cultura which means
cultivation.

 Early primitive people did not produce


foods, but they began to plant crops, and
raise animals for food. The beginnings of
agricultural practices were first discovered
in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and central
and south America.

 Archaeological findings show that men in


the Middle East raised wheat and barley
around 6000 B.C. This region was greatly
responsible in spreading the knowledge of
agriculture in Asia and Europe.
PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURE
 Agriculture, compared with other
major economic activities have many
disadvantages because natural
calamities can easily destroy
agricultural investments. In many
cases, the furies of nature are beyond
their control.

 Financing, production, processing and


marketing – to be able to adopt better
methods of farming, farmers need
more funds for the necessary input.
Since most farmers in the less
developed countries are poor, their
only option is to borrow money in
order to finance their farm in farming.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN POOR
COUNTRIES
 In the less developed countries,
agricultural resources are only
underutilized but also inefficiency
developed due to deficiency in capital,
technology, and management.

 In Africa, because of floods, drought


and pests – and endless civil war,
people are starving. The helpless
victims of hunger are mostly children.
They are too weak to whisper their
hunger, but their eyes vividly convey
their sufferings – and a forthcoming of
death.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN RICH
COUNTRIES
 In achieving a level of agricultural
development, money market
machines and technology are not
enough. Proper political, social and
cultural institutions are needed.

 United states, Australia and Canada


started with scarce populations and
abundant agricultural lands. On the
other hand, Japan Israel and some
other countries have limited areas
for agricultural and have a bad
climate, but they are about to
conquer such natural barriers.
Evidently, the determining factor for
PRESENCE OF ESSENTIAL INSTITUTIONS
 The United States is the leader of industrial
exports. It exports both industrial and agricultural
to the world market. In addition to its rich natural
resources, vast agricultural land, and scarce
population it had no political instability and feudal
problems in the past.

 In contrast, Brazil despite of its rich natural


resources, abundant agricultural lands and few
people, it had not achieved a high level of growth.
The reason is that the country is composed of large
commercial plantations with primitive agricultural
practices. The socio-political structure of brazil
favors with big landlords, and not the small
farmers.
SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF AGRICULTURE
 Modern agriculture supplies raw materials to the
industrial sector and foodstuffs to the urban
population.

 With higher agricultural productivity, people in


agricultural sector get higher incomes.

 When agriculture applies efficiently modern machines


and technology, it is capable of releasing a portion of
its labor force for employment in the industrial sector,
and in commercial enterprises.

 An agricultural economy earns more foreign exchange


like dollars by exporting more agricultural products.

 In improving economic performance of agriculture,


more jobs are created
THE TAIWAN CASE
 Taiwan was discovered by the
Portuguese and called the island
Formosa which means beautiful.
 
 The next colonial masters to occupy
the island were the Dutch, then the
Chinese, and later on the Japanese.
 
 Since the Dutch colonial rule in 1624
and until 1948, the farmers of Taiwan
were exploited by their landlords.
Their land reform program which
started in 1949 up to 1953 paved the
way for the progress of Taiwan. In
addition, cooperatives, liberal credit,
 

TAIWAN TODAY
 
 They built a good agricultural base
to improve the income of the
farmers and liberate farm labor for
the cities. And they develop
industry that could make the
products that were previously
imported, such as textiles and
fertilizers.
 
 The people of Taiwan enjoy a high
standard of living.
 
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE
 
 Russia was still an agricultural economy in the early
1900’s. Nevertheless, there were efforts to industrialize
the Russian economy by Peter The Great during the late
1600’s. He initiated the building of factories and new
industries.
 
 Russia was able to demonstrate the possibility of rapid
industrialization, in fact after world war 2, its annual
growth rate even exceeded that of the United states. It
stressed high investment and low consumption, and
industrial development at the expense of agriculture.
These factors through authoritarian central planning have
transformed Russia into the one of the great industrial
powers - second to the United States.
 
 The economic development performance of Russia was
THE RUSSIA CANNOT FEED
THEMSELVES
 
 The Russian style of economic
development has a missing link in
its total scheme. It has attained
tremendous progress in industry
but not in agriculture because its
development priorities have been
focused on high investment and
modern heavy industry.
 
 The failure of The Russian
agriculture is not the fault of the
Russian farmers. It is the lack of
Third World Poverty
 
 A significant cause of the food crisis in
the developing countries has been the
population explosion since after The
World War 2. Before the war, the less
developed countries in Asia, Africa, and
Latin America were the net exporters of
wheat, rice and corn to the industrial
countries. However, tremendous
population growth after the war has
reversed the situation. Millions are now
hungry in the aforementioned regions.
 
 Such population influx creates more
urban problems. This has been
 Agricultural productivity is generally low among the
developing countries. By and large. farmers have
second thoughts in using the modern methods of
production, because these are expensive.

Example:
Imported commercial fertilizer and pesticides have
high prices.
Modern agricultural technology is Western
technology is really expensive.
The required agricultural inputs are manufactured
by western countries.

 Schumancher, a British economist proposed


intermediate instead for the developing countries.
 The grim predictions of Malthus about food shortages
and population explosion can still be averted by proper
food production which is feasible for all developing
countries.
There is still a room for increasing output through more
efficient utilization of the farm resources. Here are the
facts (Shroeder,1983).

 Irrigation
water is crucial to the tropical farmer.

 Pests
insects and pests often eat more crops than people.
Present outputs in many areas can easily be increased by
30 percent to 50 percent through effective pests control
Petroleum-based chemicals are expensive and
 Fertilizer
commercial fertilizers are costly, instead manure and compose
can be used.
 Intercropping and Multi cropping
Intercropping is planting different kinds of crops in alternative
rows. It is one of the cheapest methods of controlling plant
diseases and pests. This practice has been used by asian
farmers for centuries.
Multicropping is planting more than one crop of the same kind
or of various kinds during a growing season.
 Weeding
It is one of the most tiresome jobs for farmers in developing
countries. Without weeds productivity increases.
 Multiuse
Fields can be rotated between plating various crops and
raising livestock.
 Harvesting and Storage
One big shortcoming of agriculture in the developing countries
Farmer's Organizations
 A good organization combines the resources of
its members(their money, skills, talents, tools,
and materials) in order to maximize the benefits
for its members. With the cooperative efforts of
the members any organization can become
strong and powerful. It is strength if it is led
into the right direction that can promote the
welfare and interest of the members.
Unfortunately, in the less developed countries,
farmer's organizations are very few and very
weak.

 In Latin America, leaders of small farmers


organizations are killed, jailed or threatened.
Even in Mexico, which is legally and socially the
most progressive Latin American country and
the most democratic, agrarian reformers die at
the hands of hacienderos. Likewise,
multinational corporations oppose land reform
FEED THE WORLD'S HUNGRY

 By the year 2000, food suppliers must nearly


double to feed the projected world population
of 7 billion. This is the greatest challenge to
the farmers- and the most serious problems of
the poor countries. The International Food
Research Institute gave the warning that 17
years from now the poor countries would not
be able to afford to buy the staggering
amounts of food for their poor peoples. And
certainly the few major food exporters, with
their Higher cost of production, will not give
their supplies for free or at a loss.

 However there is still remaining hope to feed


the hungry peoples. World famine could be
THERE IS FOOD FOR ALL

Poverty-and not lack of food- is the root cause of


hunger, according to the World Health
Organization and Food and Agriculture
Organization. The world has enough food to feed
its people. Yet about 800 million people still do
not have enough food to meet their daily needs.
The poor do not have money to buy food.

However with full commitment and action on the


part of all governments, non-governmental
organizations(NGOs). Local communities, private
sectors and international organizations,
eradication of hunger and malnutrition is
attainable. The WHO-FAO (World Health
Organization-Food and Agriculture Organization)
report issue the following:

 More than 20 percent of the Third World


 More than 2 billion people suffer form
micronutrient deficiencies which can lead to
blindness, mental retardation and death.

 Food-borne and water-borne diseases affect


millions of people in both developed and
developing countries.

 Incidence of noncommunicable diseases


related to diet and lifestyle like cancer, heart
conditions and diabetes have increased in
many countries during the past 30 years.
These diseases now pose a growing problem
in Third World countries.

 More than 2 billion people suffer form


REFORMS IN VALUES AN INSTITUTIONS
 Better production, processing, and marketing
schemes do not constitute the whole
agricultural development program- and these
are not sufficient to solve the food shortages in
the Third World. There are more important
factors that could contribute to the success of
real agricultural development. These are
agrarian reform, cooperatives, farmers
associations, credit, values, and health of the
farmers. In addition, public administration of
agricultural programs should be efficient. For
instance, farmers who are mere tenants or
sharecroppers cannot be expected to be
productive more so, if they are under nourished.
 It requires appropriate changes in attitudes,
values and institutions which is directly affect

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