THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL-COOPERATION FOR STEADY AGRICULTURAL-DEVELOPMENT

The 21st International Conference of Agronomists made it clear that steady agricultural development demands that due attention is paid to growth, distribution and ecological aspects at both the national and the international level. One powerful potential for stimulating worldwide growth in general and agricultural growth in particular is presented by the liberalisation of the international trade in farm produce. Moreover, for many developing countries and former directed economies the implementation of structural adaptation programmes promises considerable stimuli to growth. Although it is often growth which initially creates the prerequisites for the achievement of distributional and ecological goals, at the same time there exists a wide range of conflicts between the growth component and the other two aspects. Against this background, general economic and/or agricultural growth rates will not automatically guarantee steady development. Increased state investment, especially in rural regions of the developing countries, appears to be necessary so that the mass of the poor can also profit from the successes achieved by the economy as a whole. Within the framework of the conference special attention was addressed to the potential of genetic engineering for the simultaneous achievement of growth, distributional and ecological aims. If we can succeed in making good use of genetic engineering for the marginal localities in the developing countries, too, this would be a step in the direction of steady long-term agricultural development.