ABSTRACT

There are two crucial points requiring attention in organizing for agricultural development. One is the individual farm or holding. The other is the wider economy as it affects agriculture. This chapter deals primarily with the first point, with emphasis upon those aspects of organization that bear most immediately upon the production decisions of farm operators. It explores the kinds of jobs that need to be done if substantial and sustained increases in agricultural production are to be achieved, and the more difficult problems of organizing to do them. The chapter focuses on what seems to us to be the central problem of organizing for agricultural development; namely, how to broaden and make attractive the alternatives available to each farm operator in the direction of increasing farm output. A large body of scientific and technical knowledge exists that makes possible the development of locally-adapted practices that will increase agricultural production by substantial amounts in the developing countries.