Extract: This report analyzes the processes that might result in more or less instability of yields for individual crops; for the same crop produced in different regions and in different seasons in the same region; for foodgrains generally in different regions of the country; or for farms of different sizes. Because the new crop technology has made an important contribution to the growth of yields per hectare, and because the new technology itself has made the greatest headway in irrigated areas, the obvious question is: has seed-fertilizer technology increased yield variability, and, if so, has this added variability been confined only to unirrigated areas?

First published in 1989, this book deals with the impact of cereal production upon the Third World, specifically ‘Modern Varieties’ (MVs). Using evidence from plant breeding, economics and nutrition science, the authors seek to pinpoint what has been achieved, what has gone wrong and what needs to be done in future. Although the technical innovations of MVs mean more employment, cheaper food and less risk for small farmers, the reduction in crop diversity increases the risk of danger from pests and though MVs enlarge cereal stocks, many are too poor to afford them. The book concludes that technical breakthroughs alone won’t solve deep-rooted social problems and that only new policies and research priorities will increase the choices, assets and power of the rural poor.

This book extends the discussion of world food problems by giving explicit recognition to the potential role of markets. The authors highlight the contribution of prices to the solution of food problems in low-income countries, for example, by providing adequate incentives to farmers to expand production, assuring that food supplies can be obtained through trade when needed and giving appropriate signals to consumers. They also document the negative effects on food supply and national welfare of the actual price policies of many Third World governments. While recognizing the problems involved in defining and measuring hunger, as well as in improving the food supply, the authors consider the outlook for future food availability as favorable in terms of continued modest improvement in per capita food supplies at prices, adjusted for inflation, that are likely to continue the slow decline of recent decades. One focus of their comments is the positive roles that governments can and should play in the world food economy, especially in support of research, creation of human capital, and provision of appropriate rural infrastructure.

Economic analysis of agricultural marketing of the agricultural surplus and its effects on poverty in arid zone rural areas of South India - studies social classes and the agrarian structure; examines food consumption of low income households, food production and market access, production relations, etc.; discusses social discrimination through commodity markets and financial markets as well as seasonality of exchange and poverty. Bibliography, graphs, illustrations, references and statistical tables.

Trends and changes in foodgrain production; Input use and production behavior; Trends and changes in per capita consumption of foodgrains; Scenarios for the year 2000.

Research report on obstacles to and agricultural policies for sustained growth rates in fertilizer consumption in India - develops profiles by food crop based on surveys conducted between the early 1950s and the mid-1970s. Bibliography, statistical tables.