must be supplemented, if not replaced, with relatively 

 brief, function-oriented training. 



Not only the program recommended here, but, more 

 importantly, the application of soil and water 

 conservation practices will be enhanced if (1) formal 

 recognition is given to a holistic approach to water 

 management within watersheds, and (2) development 

 assistance for agriculture emphasizes the 

 implementation of soil and water conservation 

 practices. 



The United states is urged to strengthen its 

 cooperation with and support of developing nations in 

 the establishment of conservation land management 

 systems through its bilateral programs (e.g., AID, 

 Peace Corps/Smithsonian program) , FAO, and regional and 

 other international organizations. And it is urged to 

 encourage all international development programs to 

 include conservation management within food development 

 projects to ensure maximum stability of production. 



5. Plant and Animal Protection 



The 100 species of plants and animals that provide 

 more than 95 percent of the world 1 s food supply are 

 threatened by more than 25,00 species of such pests as 

 bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, insects, rodents, 

 birds, and weeds. 



Pests were given an advantage the day people began 

 to cultivate the soil and grow repeated crops in the 

 same area, when mixed vegetation was replaced by 

 monoculture, and when livestock were confined instead 

 of being able to move freely. It is estimated that 

 they reduce potential harvests by more than one-third, 

 in addition to the postharvest damage they do. Since 

 we cannot obliterate these forces, we can only make 

 conditions as unfavorable as possible for pests and as 

 favorable as possible for crop plants and livestock. 



Pest problems are so severe and widespread that 

 large areas of otherwise productive land may be removed 

 from cultivation because of the depredations of a few 

 harmful organisms. In the Philippines, 6 million acres 

 of formerly cultivated land have become highly infested 

 with a low palatable weed Imperata cylindrica and 

 abandoned for agricultural use. In India, weeds cost 

 agriculture an estimated $600 million per year and in 

 the United States as much as $5 billion per year. They 

 reduce world rice yields by a third. In Africa, 

 trypanosomiasis and East Coast fever largely prevent 

 cattle production in a large belt south of the Sahara 

 covering one-third of the continent. The part of this 

 region infested with the tsetse fly, which carries the 



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