ABSTRACT
Agricultural sustainability was not a major issue in the 1960s and 1970s because food production resources did not appear threatened by overuse. In the 1960s, prevention of the mass starvation predicted by the doomsayers of that era was the primary concern. The emergence of knowledge about the so-called greenhouse effect brought with it the realization that the destruction of tropical forests through slash-and-burn agriculture was a major source of carbon dioxide. There are a couple of decisive factors that brought to a head the importance of agricultural sustainability. One of them is the population situation. The other is a realization that most unused land should not be cultivated, that people should not automatically move in and start cutting and burning forests as they have done before, even in the United States when it was first settled. Increased income generated by policy changes, improved agricultural technologies, and alternative economic endeavors enable people to improve their lives in several ways.
