858 



tionary situations in the LDCs with ensuing complications for U.S. 

 foreign policy. 



There seems to be considerable support at present for achieving a 

 resolution of the complex problems posed by the Green Revolution 

 through the United Nations and its associated agencies, particularly 

 FAO, WHO, and the World Bank. International programs of assist- 

 ance in management skills, public administration, education, labor 

 training, and availability of capital to exploit the Green Revolution 

 and to provide jobs for displaced workers, all seem appropriate activi- 

 ties for multilateral support. 



Multilateral Approaches to Prohlems Generated hy the Green Revo- 

 lution 



The inherent advantage of multilateral over bilateral assistance is 

 that the diplomatic profile of the donor is lowered. Motives of the 

 donors are under less suspicion. Another presumed advantage is that 

 recipients may be more likely to contribute substantively to the plan- 

 ning of general programs. If they are involved in the planning, they 

 are more positively committed to the implementation of plans. Burdens 

 of cost can be more widely distributed. Results can be better analyzed 

 on the basis of international comparisons. Contributions to a genuinely 

 global program can be expected to come earlier from those nations 

 which are initially recipients. Some forms of assistance practically 

 demand a global approach. 



For example, Herman Pollack, Director of the Bureau of Inter- 

 national Scientific and Technological Affairs, Department of State, 

 ' has suggested the systematic exchange of germ plasm, a basic ingredi- 

 ent of agricultural development. 



Cooperative exchanges developed by the Department of Agriculture [said 

 Pollack] have been instrumental in providing new germ plasm to widen the 

 breeding base. For example, a variety of hard red wheat was acquired from 

 ; Turkey resistant to various races of stripe rust. In Montana alone, use of this 

 variety has prevented losses estimated at $2-$3 million annually. Similarly, a 

 tomato variety acquired from South America provides wilt resistance to about 

 100 varieties grown in the United States. In Ohio alone, it is estimated that the 

 wilt resistance gained from this acquisition has saved growers $1 million per 

 year. A peanut variety acquired from South America was planted on 400,000 

 acres annually from 19G2 to 1968 and is estimated to have increased production 

 by as much as $9 million annually because of its higher yield. Following an ex- 

 change developed with the Soviet Union, United States corn breeders received an 

 early maturing variety having good stalk quality. This germ plasm is now found 

 in hybrids having an annual value of $500,000 for the seed alone. Many other 

 similar examples in agriculture could be cited."* 



Whether it would be more effective to continue the exchange of germ 

 plasm on a low level, based on bilateral contacts, with countries at dif- 

 ferent levels of technical sophistication, or to mount a global program 

 of germ plasm management, would seem to warrant considerable at- 

 tention and analysis. 



Mention has also been made in this report of the recommendation 

 that an early warning and quick response system be developed on a 



'«« Testimony before Subcommittee on International Cooperation in Science and Space. 

 Houfe. Committee on Science and Astronautics, May 18, 1971. Reproduced in State 

 Department Bulletin (June 28, 1971), pages 39-840. 



