The World Food Situation: Resource and Environmental Issues in the Developing Countries and the United States. Research Paper R-6.

The book provides an overview of the food situation in developing nations and in the United States as it will be until the end of the 20th century. Specifically, the research focuses on interrelationships among world food needs, resources, and environmental issues. The document is presented in seven chapters. Chapter I presents background on the global food situation and summarizes the rest of the book. Chapter II discusses how food production can be managed so that it will meet global demands. Topics discussed include regional differences, levels of food consumption, food imports, grain harvest, and malnutrition. Chapter III examines resource and technological factors underlying agricultural expansion in developing nations. Chapter IV examines environmental impacts of agriculture, such as soil erosion and loss of productivity, salinity, pesticides, pollution, and silting in irrigation systems. Chapter V identifies environmental impacts which may result from efforts of developing nations to increase food production. Chapter VI examines projections to 1985 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture relating to crop production in the United States. The final chapter focuses on environmental impacts and policy issues in the United States associated with land use, fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. (DB)