Articles
BULB RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Almost every aspect of modern life has shown an apparently unlimited growth.
Whether we look at the world population, the use of energy and raw materials, the production and consumption of food, the manufacture of all sorts of products, even the power to destroy and to kill, etc., we see the same tendency.
There are some who try to make us believe that all these developments make us more happy and our lives more agreeable, and we cannot deny that they sometimes really do.
Agriculture has had its share in this.
At present, in the wealthy part of the world, 5 to 10% of the total population can produce more than the rest are able to swallow.
Due to these developments the relative importance of agriculture in the total economy of modern nations has been gradually decreasing in recent years.
As far as I can see, this is the main reason why in most, if not all, developed countries agricultural research is not given high priority.
I think this is a bad policy in the long run.
It is easy to overlook the fact that agriculture is the basis for all other human activities.
With it civilization started and without it civilization cannot survive.
The future of mankind does not depend on colour TV or space rockets; it depends on the way we use and misuse the very thin layer around this planet, which we call the biosphere.
Agriculture is one of the most essential human activities performed in this limited space.
Agricultural research and development have to show the way how to do this in the future in this complicated society of ours.
Moreover, one should never forget that on a world scale agricultural production is still completely insufficient and will be so for many years to come.