Food Crisis Nears Critical Stages

Abstract

3 AN IMMENSE EFFORT must soon be made by politicians, educators, scientists and religious leaders if humanity is to win the unequal race between over-population and food production. Work must begin immediately if the world is to avoid the catastrophe of too many people and not enough food, Dr. J. George Harrar of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York said in opening a symposium at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington. D.C. Man has learned to control four basic factors in his effort to increase prodLiction of certain food plants throughout the world, Dr. Frank W. Parker of the Agency of International Development and Lewis B. Nelson of the Tennessee Valley Authority stated. These four factors are: the genetic characteristics that produce stronger and healthier plants, the availability of fertilizers and mineral nutrients to supply energy to plants, the protection of these plants against disease and insects, and the control and use of water. The extent to which man can meet his food needs in the next 10 to 20 years will depend upon his ability to continue to manipulate these factors, the scientists reported. By maneuvering the genes that determine how strong and fine a plant grows. man has created superb hybrids of the food-producing plants, Dr. Paul C. Mangelsdorf of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University said. Annual production of the principal U. S. food crop, corn, has doubled since 1930, from 26 to 52 bushels per acre. Since that time, however no progress has been made in producing new hybrids that are more successful. To get the maximum benefit from hybrid seeds, farmers use fertilizers that add mineral nutrients to the growing plants. In the decade between 1950 and 1960, for instance, the use of nitrogen fertilizer has more than doubled, and other fertilizer chemicals have been used in increasing amounts. However, the use of fertilizer has certain limits, Dr. Mangelsdorf reported. For instance, in the Corn Belt and Lake states, which produce 73% of U.S. corn, 87% of the corn acreage is already being fertilized at an average rate of 145 pounds per acre. Applying greater amounts than this gives farmers a small return on their investment, and larger applications can even decrease the plant yield in seasons of poor rainfall. The third factor increasingly under C. Bovailgni

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