3. AGRICULTURE 



Global Food Production Potentials 



By the development and applica- 

 tion of technology in food production 

 the world can be well fed generally, 

 even with its prospective doubling 

 of population by the year 2000. The 

 physical, chemical, biological, and en- 

 gineering sciences must be used to 

 develop production systems that will 

 effectively utilize arable land, water, 

 solar energy, energy from fossil fuel 

 or other source required for mechani- 

 zation of agriculture, improved seeds, 

 livestock, fertilizers, pesticide chemi- 

 cals and other pest-protection means, 

 genetics, ecology, disease and para- 

 site control in man and animals, social 

 science relevant to industrialization 

 of agriculture and urbanization of the 

 world generally, and the building and 

 use of scientific and technological 

 capability in every country to meet 

 its needs. 



A great deal of science basic to 

 agriculture has happened because 

 men wanted to find out why — why 

 tillage was useful — why fallow was 

 useful — why ashes stimulated new 

 plant growth. Man learned by expe- 

 rience; he knew even in ancient times 

 that good seed, in good soil, well 

 watered under a friendly sun pro- 

 duced a good harvest. The major 

 plant nutrients required have been 

 known for more than a hundred 

 years. Commercial manufacture of 

 superphosphates began about 1850, 

 although nitrogen did not become 

 available in Germany until World 

 War I and in the United States until 

 1925. Mined potash and sulfur sup- 

 plement natural reserves. 



Current Scientific Understanding 



The theoretical scientific basis of 

 plant nutrition is an essential and 

 major portion of the science basic to 

 agriculture and world food produc- 

 tion. Soils of the world vary widely 



in their reserves of major and minor 

 plant nutrients. Some of them con- 

 tain toxic amounts of such minerals 

 as molybdenum or selenium. Others 

 are very deficient. Amendment de- 

 pends not alone on mineral analysis 

 but also on the physical nature of 

 the soil and its ion exchange capacity. 

 The ability of the soil to produce 

 crops must be assessed locally, often 

 repetitively. 



It has been estimated that there are 

 potentially arable lands in the world 

 equal in area to those now under 

 cultivation — i.e., around 1.5 billion 



hectares. (See Figure VII-8) One 

 of the recommendations of the Presi- 

 dent's Science Advisory Committee 

 on The World Food Problem was: 

 "The agricultural potential of vast 

 areas of uncultivated lands, particu- 

 larly in the tropical areas of Latin 

 America and Africa, should be thor- 

 oughly evaluated." 



Water is a major factor in all food 

 production. The science of hydrol- 

 ogy, the technology of water manage- 

 ment are basic to agriculture. Irriga- 

 tion — with its concomitant problems 

 of waterlogging or drainage, salinity 



Figure VII-8 — POTENTIALLY ARABLE LAND 

 IN RELATION TO WORLD POPULATION 



The table shows the total area of the continents of the world, the part that is po- 

 tentially arable, and that which is presently being cultivated. The cultivated areas 

 include land under crops, temporary fallow, temporary meadows, lands for mowing 

 or pasture, market and kitchen gardens, fruit trees, vines, shrubs, and rubber planta- 

 tions. The land actually harvested in any given year is about one-half to two-thirds 

 of the total cultivated land. Of the potentially arable land, about 11 percent of the 

 total requires irrigation for even one crop. It is important to note that Africa. 

 Australia and New Zealand, and South America cultivate significantly less than 

 half of their potentially arable land. The continents where most of the land is being 

 used are those where the population density is greatest. 



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