The Agronomists' Accomplishments and Opportunities for Future Contributions in the International Field 1

N SPITE of the headaches created by our agricultural 1 surpluses, most of the peoples of the world think that the United States is in a very enviable position. I imagine that the Ministers of Agriculture of most underdeveloped countries would be glad to change jobs with Secretary E. T. Benson and wrestle for a while with food surpluses instead of chronic shortages. Many factors have contributed to our fortunate position. I cannot enumerate them all, but I would like to point out that other countries have made, through the years, many important contributions to American agriculture. Most of our improved breeds of livestock have been imported from Western Europe. Alfalfa came from the Near East; the soybean, the second most important crop in the corn belt, came from China. Many countries have contributed genes to many of the improved varieties of wheat grown in this country. These are only a few examples of the many that might be sighted. Plant explorers are still scouring the earth for new crops. M e have recently set up several regional crop testing centers to study more thoroughly these introductions and to determine their value in different sections of the country. We are fortunate in that our farm population has had very diverse origins and these farmers have introduced into this country useful seeds and farming lore from their homes across the sea. As the natural sciences developed, first in Europe, later in the United States, many of the principles discovered were soon applied to our agriculture. The results were published in scientific journals and became freely available throughout the world. One of the most important differences between the agriculture of the highly developed and the underdeveloped countries is that, in the former, information obtained from any place in the world is promptly tested, and if found useful is soon put to use by the farmers. In most underdeveloped countries, farmers are still using practically the same methods they used a century or more ago. Since World War I1 the world has shrunk. Countries formerly far away are now only a few hours away by air. As a result we are more conscious of, and more concerned about the plight of agriculture in underdeveloped countries than ever before. We are beginning to see that it is to our advantage as well as to the advantage of these countries to have their agriculture more highly developed and their economies in a sounder position. In the past decade we have extended aid to a very high proportion of these countries. This aid has taken many different forms. Some have been highly successful; others less so. We have, however, learned much from these experiences. There is a widespread