Economic Implications 



Efficient food production is of central importance to contempor- 

 ary development policy in light of a world in which millions of 

 people live under the constant threat of malnutrition and starva- 

 tion. It would seem that the introduction of modern techniques of 

 production to the developed economies would result in improved 

 efficiency of production. But the lessons of much development 

 experience have gradually led to the conclusion that this is not 

 the case. Programs designed to transplant "modern" technology 

 continuously come up against the realization that the technology 

 offered often had little or no advantage over the old and tradi- 

 tional methods, given the economic, soil, and climatic conditions 

 facing producers. Had this not been the case, the policies of the 

 1950s, which relied upon the existence of economically viable 

 technology and were designed to transfer new ideas, to instill 

 progressive values, and to improve the supply of modern inputs, 

 might have met the high goals set for them. 



The fact that so many development problems have not yielded 

 to easy and inexpensive solutions is a hard reality. As the experi- 

 ence from various programs is assessed, the search for a new un- 

 derstanding of the determinants of the discovery and diffusion of 

 agricultural technology proceeds. This volume is offered as part of 

 that effort. The objective in pursuing the several related studies 

 included here has been to develop a systematic framework for un- 

 derstanding the observed economic performance of the agricul- 

 tural sector. The present chapter summarizes the volume's find- 

 ings and discusses the implications as we interpret them, particu- 

 larly for the developing parts of the world. 



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