SEMAINE D'ÉTUDE SUR LE ROLE DE L'ANALYSE ECONOMETRIQUE ETC. , 
3 S51 
I. MAJOR AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS 
Governments have various types of concern about the agri- 
culture of their respective nations. In many of the low income 
countries there is a concern about the level of agricultural 
output relative to what would be required to achieve satisfactory 
nutritional levels for the present population and to meet the 
demands that will come from a growing population. In most 
of the high income countries this concern arises with respect 
to the level of returns to resources engaged in agriculture. In 
the Soviet Union and other bloc countries in Eastern Europe 
the basic agricultural problem is to achieve a rapid increase 
in agricultural output, especially marketed output, to provide 
a growing urban population with a diet that compares more 
favorably with that available in the Western countries and 
to do this without requiring a significant diversion from the 
ndustrial and military sectors. 
Table 3, prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
summarizes the available data on changes in total and per ca- 
pita production of agricultural products for the past quarter 
century. In general, the Southern Area includes most of the 
underdeveloped areas of the world, while the Northern Area 
includes the medium and high income countries. With respect 
to total production, the increases are of the same general order 
of magnitude. In fact, if adjustment were made for the very 
unsatisfactory weather conditions in North America during 
[935-39 and the very good weather conditions from 1958 
through 1960 in the same area, total output probably increased 
more in the underdeveloped areas. It is true, of course, that 
within each of the two areas and within each of the regions 
there were significant differences from country to country in 
the growth of output. However, the point that I wish to make 
here is that the types of agricultural problems faced bv the 
10 
Johnson - pag. 17