776 



The development of food crop varieties that have the gr^atfest produc- 

 tive capacity under local conditions and are resistant to the major pests and 

 pathogens which commonly threaten the productivity of local varieties ; the 

 identification, through studies of soils, soil and water management, and per- 

 fonuanie of crop varieties, of practices that will maximize yields in each season of 

 each region ; the determination, through studies of the physiology of plants, of 

 nutritional requirements, and how these can be satisfied ; and studies of the 

 quality of harvested products and means of improvement.* 



Wlini the comments of Drs. Itariar and Woitmaii are added to 

 those of Dr. Bernstein, the weakness of the data hase relatino; to food 

 production is thrown into sharp relief. 



Greater knowledge of the relationship of these fartors; individually 

 and collectively, to the stimulation of agricultural production could 

 be most useful to development planners and administrators. 



Despite great gains m the twentieth century, knowledge about 

 human nutrition — the requirements of diet — is seriously incomplete. 

 There are many variables: Persons engaging in hard manual labor 

 require higher caloric intake : persons with recurrent fevers need high 

 ])rotein intake; different regions have various cultural preferences in 

 diets; there are many geographic differences in the kinds of foods 

 available; standards of quality and food sanitation differ widely; and 

 so on. Statistics cannot readily accommodate all these variables, and 

 simplificati<ms tend to lead to facile interpretations. 



Weaknesses in the Fundamental Data on Population 



There is a general lack of adequate population statistics in the LDCs. 

 Data on such basic matters as birth rates, death rates, marriages, and 

 internal migration — all of them necessary to formulate a fundamen- 

 tally accurate description of a country's poj)ulation — are often less re- 

 liable than they need to be. More sophisticated data are even less likely 

 to be reliable, if available at all. A report to the Federal Council for 

 Science and Technology, piepared by the Ad Hoc Group on Popula- 

 tion TIesoarch. noted that improvements in the techniques of measur- 

 ing and estimating population size and composition and of recording 

 biitlis. deaths, and population changes were research areas of imme- 

 diate concern to the Agency for International Development (A.LD.).^ 

 'I'hat agency has the responsibility for administering Title X of the 

 Foreign Assistance Act of 10(51, as amendpd. which concerns U.S. pro- 

 grams of assistance to the LDCs in the field of population and family 

 plannijig. The fact that A.I.D. is interested in further research along 

 the indicated lines in itself suggests that available data are unsatis- 

 factory. 



Despite the intense public interest in the subject, the Ad Hoc Group 

 found knowledge? and miderstanding of the economic, social, and 

 political conse([uenccs of the high rates of population growth and 

 density in the LDCs seriously inadequate. Much additional informa- 

 tion is needed on the economic and social correlates of demographic 

 growth and change. The direct and indirect effects of the increased size 

 and rate of growth and changed composition and distribution of popu- 



8 In Clifford M. Hardin, Jr., "Overcoming World Hunger" (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., The 

 American Assembly, Columbia University Press, 1969), pages 9E^-6. 



» "The Federal Program in Population Research." July 1, 1969, Parts I and II, pages 

 425-541. In U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. "Family 

 Planning and Population Research, 1970." Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health on 

 S. 2108 and S. 3129. 9l8t Congress, Ist and 2d sessions (Washington, U.S. Government 

 Printing OfDce. 1970), Appendix E. 



