WASHINGTON— Government scientists have made two seemingly unrelated breakthroughs, a new antidote to soil salinity and conversion of crop residue to cattle feed, that stretch the bounds of agricultural production,
Only five years ago, there was widespread belief that constraints such as the world’s limited cropland and severe soil erosion would usher in a world population and food crisis at the beginning of the 2ist century,
But developments like the salinity breakthrough and feeding crop waste to animals represent more incremental ways for scientists and the world’s farmers to raise world food production,
The new developments will help restore wasted land to agricultural production and reduce cattle feeding costs, providing a little more tough competition for American grain and soybean producers.
But scientists and governments believe they must continue to push scientist breakthroughs to continue to stay ahead in the food population race, which is being ‘won in most places except parts of Africa.
In the 1985 Yearbook of Agri culture issued last week, Dennis Avery, senior agricultural analyst at the State Department, said physical constraints on agriculture “have turned out to be far less severe than almost anyone foresaw.”
Little additional cropland can be created, but scientific breakthroughs are increasing yields beyond levels expected when predictions of shortage were made as late as 1980,
‘New com varieties will double yields for farmers in Central America and in West Africa. Shorter season varieties permit double and triple cropping. Wet areas are being drained, Brazil is opening up more than 100 million acres of acid soils by using lime and phosphate. New ways are being found to farm 700 million acres of black, sticky Vertisol soils, mostly in India, Australia and the Sudan.
On Thursday, the Agriculture Department issued two more announcements of breakthroughs likely to give society more output on its land and to help cut costs for individual producers.
A grass grown for livestock feed has potential to be a useful soil cleanser on millions of acres of salt laden land in the American West, the northern Great Plains, western Canada and similar parts of the world.
Article extracted from this publication >>
Article extracted from this publication >> January 3, 1986
