Outlook on Agriculture

The extension of potato culture from Peru to North America, Europe and the rest of the world has been accompanied by the development of a variety of production systems. With the intensification of potato production in many countries, the available genetic resources of the plant are being severely stretched. This may be why experimental departures from standard husbandry do not always give the advantages expected. Potato agronomy, nevertheless, is in the throes of change.

Sugar cane, traditionally a labour-intensive crop, has, in parallel with many other crops, been subjected to the pressures of progressive mechanisation. These operate most intensively on cutting and loading, two operations demanding high standards of execution if subsequent factory processing is to proceed unimpeded and achieve a high extraction rate. Progress with mechanisation has been recorded in various countries but there are still a large number of problems to be solved.

The gibberellins were first isolated in 1939 but it took some twenty years to begin to develop practical uses for them. This was largely because there was no extensive knowledge of the interaction between gibberellins and auxins; in fact, much of the knowledge that has accrued in the last twenty or so years has come from the experimental use of exogenous gibberellins. Thus an empirical approach has simultaneously promoted both practical husbandry and scientific progress.

Certain algae have direct benefit as food or fertilizer. Excessive growths of algae in fresh water, however, reduce water quality and make it less suitable for drinking or amenity use. They also present difficulties in freshwater fisheries, in industrial cooling systems, and in drainage and irrigation of agricultural land. In salt water, certain algae cause fouling of ships’ hulls. Although some control is possible by means of chemical algicides there are many problems still to be solved.

The efforts made to increase cereal production have induced a concomitant increase in the actual and potential losses from cereal diseases. The force of the evolutionary direction exerted on the major pathogens has frustrated many attempts to breed for stable resistance. Greater understanding of the various factors involved is therefore essential for the creation of a more stable situation.

The relationship between the chemistry of grasses and the value of these grasses in animal production is at once more complex and more subtle than would appear from a first consideration. The assessment of this relationship is further complicated by difficulties in the experimental techniques available, by our imperfect knowledge of certain components in the nutrient system and even by a lack of agreement on the precise requirements of the animal under practical farming conditions.

Changing prices of energy sources in animal feedingstuffs call for a re-examination of the costs of various systems of conserving grass as a substitute for barley. Grass drying, bunker and tower silage, and barn haydrying merit special consideration. Yet a balance must be maintained between yield and quality. The risks of over-investment in sophisticated equipment must not be ignored.