856 



In the United States, the social adjustments consequent on the shift 

 of the population out of agriculture and into industry and services, and 

 from rural to urban, has taken place over more than a century. The 

 ^adualness of the change has helped to ease it ; even so, there have 

 been episodes of agricultural revolt, tension, agitation, and dissent, 

 from the Whiskey Rebellion to the Great Depression. However, the 

 rapid pace with which the Green Revolution appears to be advancing 

 ,in the LDCs suggests that adjustments will be telescoped into a decade 

 or two. , 



' The fruits of the Green Revolution have been spectacular. Mexican 

 ;wheat yields have trebled in 15 years. Rice yields in West Pakistan 

 ha,ve more than doubled in five years. Profits to Turkish farmers grow- 

 ing dwarf wheats are 2.5 times as large as those from native, varieties, 

 in Pakistan and India more than four times as large. Moreover, these 

 achievements do not represent the ultimate, even in wheat, corn, and 

 ric€>, where they have been most spectacular ; further genetic improve- 

 ments are still possible in these and other crops. 



But paradoxically, this technological success has spawned a host 

 of problems of such magnitude and complexity that the Green Revolu- 

 tion has sometimes been styled a "Pandora's box." Instead of being 

 recognized as an opportunity for man to overcome hunger for the 

 first time in recorded history, it is viewed with apprehension and 

 alarm. The fact is that it is a radical development. But all technology 

 is radical. It leads to change, to challenge, to reassessment of social 

 mechanisms, and to readjustment of economies. In the last analysis, 

 technology is a great regulator of the human order : It determines what 

 is physically possible. 



Politics, administration, and diplomacy are terms for the various 

 forms of human relationship upon which technology impacts; they are 

 also terras for the forms of human organization by which technology 

 is put to work. These forms of human relationship determine how 

 effectively man uses his technological opportunities. 



The Politics and Diplomacy of Food for the Future 



Broadly speaking, the problems set in train by the Green Revolution 

 fall into two categories : (1) Those appearing within the LDCs them- 

 selves, as a result of the political, social, and economic effects of the 

 new tecimology ; and (2) the consequences for the developed nations 

 of the world of the appearance of the new abundance of staple food 

 commodities. The actions taken in response call for three sets of orga- 

 nizational entities: (1) Institutions and organizational arrangements 

 within the LDC itself to smooth the path and ease the dislocations 

 of the Green Revolutions; (2) bilateral arrangements, such as between 

 the United States and an LDC; and (3) international or multilateral 

 agreements and systems to provide global stability, unify interna- 

 tional purposes, and ease international conflicts arising out of the \; 

 changed patterns of trade. 



The prospective abundance threatens to generate several kinds of • 

 problems within the LDCs. Gains in food production may be poorly 

 distributed from one district to another, as between East and West 

 Pakistan. They may benefit the wealthier farmers while leaving the 

 poor farmers even less well off. Both of these effects generate tensions 



