The Potters Herald

Washington (LPA)—The 1947-48 crop year was the best since the war but millions are still hungry. This is the picture which is presented in a survey of food conditions and prospects presented to the Food and Agricultural Organization meeting here.

Why? Because world population is increasing more rapidly than production; because soil erosion impoverishes many lands; because forest resources are being depleted; because low income countries lack money for investment projects; and because there is a growing concern in technically advanced countries as to whether markets can be found for the surplus goods which they are able to produce.

The hope seems to lie, according to the survey, in the fact that the world possesses enough technical knowledge to reverse the trend, thus bringing about a substantial increase in production. According to FAO Director-General N. E. Dodd, in his forward to the survey, "The difficulties which stand in the way of a really rapid expansion of production should be examined more energetically by governments, and decisions should be taken which will enlarge the programs and facilitate their speedier execution." What is now needed he said, is practical action.