ABSTRACT
This chapter drives the point home by their calculation that the extra annual fertilizer requirements of the underdeveloped countries (which at present show no signs of being met) demand an outlay amounting to no more than one-fifteenth of America's military budget, or one-seventh of its annual expenditure on the Vietnam war. The irony of the present situation, as M. Dumont and M. Rosier persistently emphasize, is that extra food can be most easily produced in those countries where it is least needed. In a rich society, the income-elasticity of demand for foodstuffs leads to the subsidization of farmers and the restriction of supplies. The single-minded dedication enables them to survey with an admirable objectivity the efforts already being made. Their own politics, as can easily be gathered, are of the socialist variety, and it is clear that they have come to the conclusion, unacceptable to many of their fellow agronomists and agricultural economists.
