Stagnated development of agricultural production

Despite the availability of scientific methods in agriculture and animal husbandry, present methods of farming tend to yield a much smaller percentage than is potentially feasible with proper crop rotation, more plant varieties, plant nutrients, fertilisers and proper pest control. In many villages in the developing nations only a little over 50% of the arable land is used for agricultural production, which leaves much land uncultivated that could possibly produce profitable crops. In many rural areas, even with plentiful rainfall, dependence on subsistence farming has resulted in only short-range agricultural planning.

With existing traditional farming methods, it is difficult to meet family food requirements. Continuous soil erosion, limited means of fertilization, inadequately cultivated fields, and uncontrolled grazing practices all work to create minimally-productive farmland. Farmers tend to have little experience in poultry-keeping or in mechanized farming methods because of the inaccessibility of training centres where they might learn modern farming methods.

Because of the low-yield farming methods, much of the village employment is cyclical rather than continual. Sometimes residents are blocked by outside ownership which controls their markets and brings minimal economic returns to the farmer. Land cultivation is often done with animal powered-single furrow ploughs; the farmers depend on regular rains to supply water where there is no irrigation system. Chickens, pigs, goats, cows, geese, ducks and rabbits live in family yards and are raised for home consumption only - these animals freely forage for food throughout a village since there is usually no common grazing land. Without proper upbreeding of present stock and a larger variety of animals, profitable animal husbandry is not possible.

[Developing countries] The decisive changes in agricultural structure, productivity and food production which created a vital surplus above subsistence level, and preceded the growth of industrial cities in Europe and America and later in Japan, have begun to occur on a sufficient scale only very recently in the developing countries.

Because the agricultural sector is predominant and pervasive in most developing countries, its performance has a profound influence on growth and the quality of life. Because industrialization alters the methods of production and distribution in all economic sectors, a close relationship between agriculture and industry is necessary in these countries to significantly improve the standard of living. However, during the past few decades of development, the links between the two sectors have been weak and transient. At times, agricultural development may have suffered from a diversion of investment funds to industry. The world food crisis of 1972-1973 was followed by staggering price increases for certain basic commodities (cereals, sugar, oil seed), which were, in fact, alarm signals set off by the great imbalances between the world's food supplies and its food needs. While the imbalances were aggravated by poor harvests, in the long term there has been a disturbing tendency for agriculture to stagnate. For example, in 1965-1975 agricultural output in the developing countries expanded very slowly. Several developing countries experienced a decline in agricultural output in absolute terms.