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Show Harnessed Teebology Called Key , u Bated Agriculture - Salter n. V s; nf the nation s most j ! "fnB problems is to harness 'h presains rr, . advancements to - teChnolo tja, hl sieving 'liel i ni-ed agrk'uimie, says .M Salter, chief of the ltobert i- of Agriculture's 1,1 pepaftiw uplant Inc(ustl.Vi SoHs - Agricultural Engineering-. a -balanced agriculture" Dr A ipfines as, a system of ! f fient production that win ; or improve ou.r so.i ,iaint that will solve our If f reSrroblems, that will pro-It. pro-It. surpl" income for farm (i, vllleri - and that will meet na-S na-S 'nutritional needs and also fc, tfh raw materials for indus- trH, points out that changes f the past half century have ilt a , Lionized American agri-lure agri-lure a" the result of tech- J3'- Cn"ical advances growing out rfcultural research. As a !?. it the production capacity four farm Plant and the ef- fc tiency of its operation have Sled. Viewed in retrospect the vear, 2000, however, Hi; Z gains' realized during the vt 50 years seem small when 51 r. Compared with potentials of -the 5(if next 50 years." i As factors in future advance-K advance-K ment Dr. Salter lists studies on fflil-ci-op-moisture relationships, : rjlorations on improving the structure and nutritional qual-sq qual-sq ... ities of the sub-soil as a means 1: if expanding the rooting zone ) or plants and advances with fertilizer technology. We could make better use of technology in achieving a bal-37.il bal-37.il anced agriculture if and these are big 'if's' if we could find lei i ways of getting new technology i into use on farms more quickly, Snd if we could develop alternate alter-nate but equally profitable enterprises en-terprises for specific farming areas" Dr. Salter states. One approach, Dr. Salter suggests, sug-gests, might be through pilot EIi plant research such as is used by industry, test-demonstration lurms, and farm management services. Thus new technology developed through applied research re-search would be tested at pilot resea;ch farms -.not as separate practices, but as integral parts ot a complete farming ooera-tion. ooera-tion. In some areas new farming enterprises would be developed and perfected to fit local economic eco-nomic and social conditions learns of specialized scientists would plan and interpret the tests. "As a result of this pilot farm research, definite recommendations recom-mendations could be made in terms of farming systems. These recommendations could be put in operation on unit demonstra-1 tion farms where the operators' agreed to take the slight addi-1 tional rick of accurate records' in return for the special help' they received. A unit demon-1 stration farm would be needed I within easy driving distance of: every farm in the country, so that every farm operator could see the best practices and new enterprises in operation on ' a farm like his own run by a farmer like himself. . . "A program of this type might furnish the basis for a more orderly application of the action programs in agriculture. Programs for soil conservation incentives and technical services, ser-vices, agricultural credit, production pro-duction incentives, and farm price supports might be knitted together for each individual farm and directed toward the goal of balanced agriculture. . . "Once geared up, such a program pro-gram could become the foundation founda-tion for a permanent - efficient agriculture bringing stability to the entire national economy. Such a program would be invaluable in-valuable in helping the nation to realize the full advantage from new agronomic information informa-tion currently in the making or in prospect. |