Transfer of Basic Skills of Food Production

Potentialities for more food in the underdevel oped countries with better soil and water use range from small to exceedingly large depending, in the first instance, on the kind of soil and what is known about it. The achievement of the potentialities is a very complex and difficult problem. For success in most places, several practices, such as those for water control, fertilization, kind and varieties of crops grown, and plant protection, must be changed at the same time if any of them are to give significant economic returns. Basic handicaps are a very low social status of cultivators in many countries and the lack of specific information requiring sound recommen dations. Rarely can programs or practices be transferred from advanced countries of temperate regions to underdeveloped countries of the tropics or subtropics. Only basic principles and the skills to learn can be transferred. Those transferring skills from the advanced to the underdeveloped countries must be able (1) to analyze the problems and to invent effective practices and programs while in the area, (2) to work hard under less than ideal conditions, and (3) to be courteous at all levels of work from the cultivator to the highest officials of sovereign governments.