CHAIRMAN: The meeting is called to order. The introduction of the subject has already been done, we have already had a few speakers, so I call on the delegate of India.
RAMADHAR (India): The Committee on Agriculture at its Sixth Session arrived at many important conclusions and they were introduced by the Chairman of the Committee in his introductory remarks. The Committee on Agriculture gave full support to the programmes and sub-programmes in the Summary Programme of Work and Budget relating to some of the important components like natural resources, crops, including fertilizer for increased agricultural production, livestock, research support, rural development, nutrition, food and agricultural information and analysis and food and agricultural policies. These programmes and sub-programmes include many of the innoventive measures and projects oriented towards the interests of the developing countries.
Besides this general discussion, we are happy to note that the Committee on Agriculture discussed three selected items, and I would briefly refer to them and their importance and how we look at them. The first was the follow-up on the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. My Delegation fully supports and appreciates FAO's efforts in reorienting its own programme of work in the direction of WCARRD priorities. At country levels also FAO has been assisting Member governments in the follow-up of the WCARRD Programme of Action. Quite a number of other activities have also been initiated within the house and my delegation expresses its full satisfaction with the same. There are two other items, and discussion of them, according to my delegation, was very timely and relevant. The first one was soil and water conservation and we discussed this matter in the Committee on Agriculture on the basis of a very well-prepared document. Again my delegation feels that the discussion on this item was very timely, and I may say in this context what was already said the other day by the leader of my delegation, that the vast untapped potential of agricultural production can be among many other things exploited primarily with proper soil and water conservation policies and programmes by the Member governments. I would like to support these recommendations, particularly with regard to creating awareness of the scope, danger and problem of soil degradation and of the possibilities of preventing it. I would also like to support the recommendation that FAO should mount a world-wide publicity campaign, including a massive training effort. Further, the draft of the World Soil Charter is an excellent one, and we fully support this
The third item which was discussed as a special item was on energy in agriculture and rural development, and my delegation fully supports the recommendations of the Committee on Agriculture on this important item. We support the need for emphasis on the conservation of energy, energy-efficient practices, techniques and production systems, and the activities of FAO in the field of alternative sources of energy and the move from non-renewable to renewable energy resources, and the continuing importance of wood as an immediate source of renewable energy in the rural sector.
To conclude, I fully support the adoption of this report by the Council.
D.H.J. ABEYAGOONASEKERA (§ri Lanka): We are glad to note that the Committee on Agriculture, which has to deal with a very broad spectrum of activities covered by the two major departments of the Organization, has been able to focus attention on the two most important areas which are of interest to us. While these deliberations have been very useful, we are particularly glad that this Committee has dealt extensively with two areas which we consider need immediate attention.
As mentioned by the Delegate of India, the gravity of the problem of soil erosion which has been referred to as the ''greatest problem facing mankind, in fact his survival in the Universe'', is an important one. His existence and survival is dependent on the few inches of top soil on which he is precariously perched.
Historical evidence has shown that ancient civilizations of the great empires with their great agriculture and irrigation work have succumbed to the forces of erosion leading to their destruction and abandonment. Erosion, the land it affects, and man who aids and accelerates erosion, are the products of nature and are governed by the forces of nature. It is the story of man in relation to his environment and adjustment or maladjustment to the same. How successfully he has been able to achieve this, either in harmony with these forces or against them, has determined his rise or fall.
We welcome the Committee's suggestion to give world-wide publicity to this problem, urging governments to give top priority to conservation methods. The adoption of a Charter, as well as the proposed lines of action by national governments and the institutional agencies, are therefore most timely.
The Committee on Agriculture has also focussed attention on ''energy'' - a subject which is not only topical but critical to us. In developing countries we are faced with the increase in the price of energy-based inputs such as fertilizers, farm machinery, pesticides and pump irrigation. The escalation of costs in these inputs would lead to a reduction in the use of inputs, thereby affecting crop yields. We have talked about higher inputs to achieve higher output; now we are talking in terms of moderate inputs to achieve moderate outputs, at least to maintain minimum yields. In view of thé uncertainty of the fertilizer market, more attention would have to be given to discovering ways and means of reducing the farmers' dependence on chemical fertilizer. In this regard, re-cycling of waste matter appears to be more promising now than in the past. Studies should be encouraged to apply biological fertilization methods in order to save on chemical fertilizers.
The greater use of draught animal power in small farm operations with adequate and suitable implements to accompany them should also be encouraged. In developing countries with a potential for the calculation of energy crops such as sugar, cassava and maize, further technical assistance would be necessary to help improve the energy-cropping programmes and also to make available technologies for processing these crops to provide energy.
The encouragement of these programmes through "rural energy systems" with a better understanding of the applied use of power within rural areas, using locally available sources, is therefore very encouraging. We would like this Organization to take the initiative in these steps.
Finally, we would like to say we agree with the recommendations made by the Committee, and would like to support them.
M. ZJALIC (Yugoslavia): My delegation wishes to offer some brief comments on this agenda item.
First, we would like to thank Mr. Aidara for his excellent introduction, and also the brilliant manner in which he conducted the 6th Session of the Committee on Agriculture. The Yugoslavian delegation actively participated at the 6th Session of the Committee on Agriculture, and now we would like to express our support to the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report, and particularly to note the full support the Committee gave to the Summary Programme of Work.
The Committee on Agriculture has given new ideas for national and international actions on soil and water conservation. We emphasize the importance of coordinated action for creating an awareness of the scope, danger and problem of soil degradation and the possibilities of preventing it, and of mounting a worldwide publicity campaign, including massive training efforts.
Energy in agriculture and rural development as a relatively new field of FAO activities has received our full support, including the interests of our scientific and professional organizations as well as our producers to participate in the relevant programmes.
Finally, I would like to express for the future work our agreement with the proposed agenda for the next COAG meetings, but also I would like to mention the need to concentrate on areas according to the subjects so that we may share in the number of delegates participating and can concentrate on oneor two important main subjects.
For the next meeting, the majority of delegates has agreed to cover four major diverging points. They all have something in common, but from the practical point of view we would like to see the programme more concentrated on our subjects.
J. E. AKO-NAI (Ghana): My delegation would like to congratulate the Director-General on the lucid report in document CL 79/9, and also the able manner in which the delegate of Senegal introduced this document. My delegation would like to touch on just three main items in the report.
My delegation feels that the main thrust of FAO is to help countries, especially developing countries, to improve their agricultural production towards the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. One way is contained in the report which we are now discussing.
First of all, my delegation would like to touch on the question of the constraint imposed as a poor extension of agricultural production. This is shown by the pattern of reproduction which is seen in my country, and I hope the situation is so in many other developing countries. For instance, in Ghana about 90 percent of the food grain is produced by smallholdings who cultivate small acreages and small areas on the average of about 2-3 hectares. Yields are very low, and this is because there is a gap between what they get and what can be achieved, as is shown from research results and from demonstrations.
The task here is enriching harvests through extension support, and the problem of extension is that of mobility. We would like FAO to do something under the scheme to help these developing countries in enriching the harvest.
I am happy to announce that there is under the scheme the preparatory identification scheme which is now in my country, a scheme that has been evolved called the "cost scheme" under which certain areas have been selected to give more to small-scale farmers and give more logistic support. My delegation is asking that the scope of this scheme be expanded so that it has a wider coverage.
The second point I would like to touch upon is that of fertilizers. Regarding the fertilizer requirements of my country - and this I believe may apply to other countries - the fertilizer bill has been rising phenomenally. The cost of fertilizers has been rising on the world market, and also the shipment costs, the freight, are rising.
Unfortunately, the high varieties of grains we have to use have a high demand, and the demand for fertilizers is therefore very high. To forestall this, my country has started the production of compost locally to help, but also inorganic fertilizers are needed. Some time ago, Ghana also benefited from the International Fertilizer Supply Scheme, but for the last two years this programme has terminated. My delegation wishes to express its continued interest in the International Fertilizer Scheme and its reactivation for Ghana.
The second point is that of post-harvest losses. Apart from the low yields which farmers get and which is a big problem, pests take a heavy toll on the harvest, and it is estimated up. to about 30 percent of the food grain is lost because of the damage caused by insect pests. We are happy to announce a small project has started to control the harvests and conserve losses. It is confined to just a small proportion of the production zones, and our request is that this be extended to cover large areas.
Lastly, I would like to touch upon the problem of energy. The project that FAO has started is to use draught animals for land conservation. Although in Ghana we do not have bullocks, what we are saying is, what is available in the particular environment should be used, and we are asking that donkeys and other draught animals be used. We are asking for help through FAO for this.
J.O. ALABI (Nigeria): It is rather difficult to comment on the report of the COAG without reopening issues which have been amply discussed in connection with earlier topics such as the current world food situation and the Programme of Work and Budget, both of which relate to a very great extent to the work of this Committee. My delegation would, however, wish to underscore some crucial elements in the report. The first is soil and water conservation.
The problems of soil conservation engaged the attention of my Government seriously about five years ago when gully erosion was causing serious damage to some parts of the country, resulting in major roads being cut off and whole villages disappearing into very big gullies. Consultants were called in to study in detail the entire area affected and from their studies it was found that although gully erosion was quite spectacular and commanded Government attention for immediate action, sheet erosion was by far more damaging in terms of loss to the economy. There were areas where continuous cropping without conservation measures had reduced yields to only one third of their potential, in spite of modest levels of fertilizer application. I bring out this experience to emphasize the urgency to work out sound alternatives to shifting cultivation which formerly managed to maintain soil fertility for generations in most parts of Africa.
The role of water conservation to the all-important goal of increased agricultural production was very eloquently stated by the delegate of India last week. The FAO should provide as much technical assistance as it can mobilize to enable developing countries to harness their water resources for agriculture. It is also a very rewarding area for bilateral assistance. The concept of watershed management should be promoted.
The second subject of major importance is the implementation of the action programme of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. If the action programme were implemented conscientiously by all governments for a period of five years, hunger, malnutrition and rural poverty would be substantially reduced even in the least developed countries. Therefore FAO should continue the good work it has started, to monitor progress in this area and keep alive the whole concept of rural development. Many developing countries will need planning assistance to establish nationally coordinated plans with detailed program content. We hope the newly established Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Africa will take off very soon, so that countries in the region will draw on the pool of expertise there to plan and evaluate their rural development programmes.
My delegation would like to comment on section 2.1.8 of the report of the Committee dealing with food and agricultural policy. Although virtually all developing countries in their statements here and at other meetings are firm that their governments accord the first priority to agriculture, the Committee has concluded that there is a need for many developing countries to re-orient their agricultural policies and plans in order to achieve rapid and sustained expansion of food production. My delegation feels that it is only through periodic reviews of the agricultural sector within the context of the national plan that the need for reorientation can be identified.
We therefore urge FAO to assist in carrying out such sectorial reviews, possibly in collaboration with IBRD and other multilateral agencies, but with the active involvement of the nationals of the country.
SRA. DOÑA D. SANCHEZ (Colombia): En relación con el documento CL 79/9 la delegación de Colombia desea hacer unas referencias a algunos de los puntos principales señalados en el resumen.
Sobre el párrafo 53 pensamos que el COAG asumió una actitud idealista sin base real. En efecto, la experiencia demuestra que no podrá obtenerse un incremento del 4 por ciento de la producción de alimentos en los países en desarrollo. Aunque los objetivos y las estrategias a largo plazo pudieran refle-jar esa posibilidad, ya el propio párrafo 56 la anula cuando se habla de las condiciones presupuestarias.
También al final del párrafo 53 se recuerdan cifras que nunca van a alcanzarse, o sea que no se logrará ese 4 por ciento.
En relación con el párrafo 130 la delegación de Colombia apoya las necesidades de que los países en desarrollo concedan alta prioridad a los aspectos de la nutrición y su repercusión en la vida de las poblaciones.
El Gobierno de Colombia ha elaborado el Plan Nacional de Alimentación y Nutrición, PAN, que está erigido en este sentido.
La delegación de Colombia apoya los párrafos 131 y 132 acerca de la mayor, más racional y más eficaz participación efectiva y adecuada de los campesinos en la ejecución de los proyectos que tienen directa relación particularmente con los medianos y pequeños campesinos.
Opinamos que los campesinos en general, hombres y mujeres, deben tener las mejores oportunidades para contribuir al cumplimiento de los objetivos de aquellos proyectos que están dirigidos a beneficiarlos, a procurarles una vida más digna y unas mejores condiciones de trabajo que les procuren rendimientos más acordes con su consagración a la labor del campo.
Sobre el párrafo 133 la delegación de Colombia piensa que la FAO debe intensificar sus esfuerzos por crear, preparar y estimular personal nacional especializado en los problemas de alimentación y nutrición. Creemos que ha llegado el momento de que se prescinda de la utilización de elementos extraños a nuestros países para hacer buen uso del personal nacional, que cuesta menos y está en mejores condiciones para cumplir esas funciones en los problemas de la nutrición, porque nuestras gentes conocen el propio medio en que trabajan y las características particulares de las personas a las cuales se aplican los planes nutricionales.
JIN XIANG YUN (China) (interpretation from Chinese) : In March this year the Chinese delegation attended the Sixth Session of COAG for the first time as a member of the Committee and took part in the deliberations on agenda items of the session. Apart from the fact that we are in general agreement with Document CL 79/9, we would like to stress further the following points concerning the above-mentioned report.
First, we believe that during the discussion of the agenda items, many delegates put forward various reasonable suggestions and valuable remarks. All these are conducive to improving and refining the Programme of Work in the field of agriculture of this Organization. We hope that in preparing FAO's Programme of Work these will merit your study and consideration.
Secondly, we think that one of the key factors for increasing food production is to strengthen energetically the scientific research work on applying technology of agriculture and organized appropriate institutions to carry out extension work seriously in this respect. Concerning the technical activities conducted by various research centres and institutions within the competence of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, we hold that it is necessary for FAO to intensify its guidance to the coordination among these research centres and institutions with an aim to urging them to play their role fully in accelerating the training of agro-scientists as well as extension and application of technology in the developing countries.
Thirdly, we appreciate the approach adopted by COAG to select one or two technical issues of common interest to be discussed at each session as a selected development issue for further investigation. The Sixth Session of COAG focussed its discussion on two issues, namely, soil and water conservation, energy in agriculture and rural development. The Secretariat put before us comparatively detailed background material. It was very useful for all the Member Nations, especially in developing countries, during discussions to exchange experiences which are common understanding, formulate goals and objectives and make joint efforts on these above-mentioned two items. We deem it appropriate for the next COAG session to discuss the following two topics: plant protection and animal health and other subjects.
Meanwhile, we hope that the Secretariat will provide all kinds of relevant material and data so as to enable delegates of all Member Nations to have a better understanding of the background of these issues which will lead to an in-depth discussion.
J, PEREIRA RETS (Portugal): Le document du Sixième Rapport de la session du Comité de l'agriculture a été étudié par la délégation portugaise avec le plus grand intérêt. C'est pourquoi ma délégation désire se référer à quelques points qui ont été approuvés, compte tenu de leur importance pour les objectifs de la FAO et pour les intérêts des pays membres. En ce qui concerne le Programme de travail on distingue l'objectif d'assurer un accroissement annuel de 4 pour cent de la production alimentaire dans les pays en voie de développement. En matière de nutrition, je remarque comme première préoccupation de promouvoir l'introduction d'objectifs et de perspectives nutritionnels dans tous les programmes des projets de développement, au sujet de la suite à donner aux recommandations et résolutions, de la Conférence mondiale de la réforme agraire et du développement rural, l'assistance de la FAO aux pays pour examiner l'observance des recommandations et résolutions et l'assistance de la FAO pour la formation des agriculteurs et de la vulgarisation de ces mêmes objectifs.Eu égard à l'utilisation des sols, la promotion d'une prise de conscience de l'ampleur du danger du problème de la dégradation des sols en matière de l'énergie dans l'agriculture et le développement rural, les conseiller pour l'utilisation d'autres sources d'énergie et surtout des actions pratiques pour accroître la production du bois de feu qui reste une source d'énergie renouvelable.
En ce qui concerne les ressources naturelles, leur utilisation a fait part d'une étude sur les zones agro-écologiques combinée avec les besoins en produits nécessaires aux différents pays ou régions. La contribution de la FAO pour la formation des agriculteurs afin qu'ils puissent profiter d'une forme plus valable de l'eau pour l'irrigation est une autre recommandation que nous considérons comme étant "de grande importance. Nous soulignons aussi la préoccupation des pays au sujet du problème de la prolifération des mauvaises herbes. La FAO mérite des félicitations pour la façon rapide dont elle a programmé ses activités d'urgence contre la fièvre porcine africaine et la peste bovine.
Nous avons noté l'accent mis sur la promotion dans les activités d'éducation, de formation et de vulgarisation agricoles de la FAO au niveau de mon pays. Au sujet des politiques alimentaires et agricoles nous avons constaté l'importance de l'aide que la FAO porte aux gouvernements pour l'établissement des programmes pour améliorer leur autosuffisance alimentaire ainsi que la recommandation de donner haute priorité à la formation pour mettre les Etats Membres en mesure de formuler des plans et des projets de développement agricole. Il me reste encore à référer que ma délégation donne son accord au point soulevé dans le document en étude au sujet de la conservation des sols, en raison de son importance pour l'utilisation optimale des terres. Dans le Rapport on a proposé de recommander à la
Conférence générale 1'examen de la Charte mondiale des sols au point relatif à la conservation des sols. Nous appuyons cette initiative. D'autre part, nous avons note la préoccupation et aussi la recommandation de planifier l'urbanisation afin d'éviter l'occupation des sols agricoles de bonne qualité. Nous avons également noté la recommandation d'aménager la terre de ses ressources en fonction des avantages à long terme et non du profit immédiat. L'intérêt des gouvernements est essentiel pour faire appliquer l'élaboration d'une politique d'utilisation des terres visant une exploitation agricole et non agricole avisée en fonction de leur écologie et des nécessités des pays. Il faut faire recenser les terres, à l'heure actuelle "codifiées" et les terres nouvelles évaluées et leur aptitude à différentes utilisations et aux risques de détérioration. De la part des Organisations internatio-, nales, on attend l'aide pour l'organisation de campagnes, de séminaires et d'autres moyens pour favoriser un principe essentiel dans cette matière doivent aller dans ce sens. Elles doivent être prêtes à appuyer les gouvernements en créant la législation nécessaire qui permettra de préparer, de réaliser, et de surveiller en permanence des programmes appropriés à l'utilisation des terres et de l'eau.
S. de MARE (Sweden): My delegation has with great interest studied the report of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture contained in document CL 79/9. Since many of the questions dealt with by COAG have already been discussed earlier during this Council, especially when the Summary Programme of Work and Budget was taken up, I will limit my intervention to a few comments.
The topics dealing with selected development problems taken up at the Sixth COAG Session, that is the follow-up to the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, WCARRD, Soil and Water Conservation and Energy in Agriculture and Rural Development are all subjects of current interest that, in our view, deserve high priority within the FAO activity. My delegation thus wishes to support the recommendations adopted by COAG relating to the selected items. The importance to my delegation of the follow-up to WCARRD has been already stated during this Council. I still wish, however, to draw the Council's attention to paragraph 143 of the document before us. This paragraph states, inter alia, that the Committee "expressed disappointment that total pledges made by only six donors, amounted so far to only US $ 9.29 million, which was less than 50 percent of the target of US $ 20 million" set in 1979. If no new donations have been pledged recently this implies that the Nordic countries together account for more than 80 percent of the pledges made so far to the follow-up to WCARRD; that my country alone accounts for close to 60 percent. We are interested that the follow-up to WCARRD is not viewed as an almost exclusive area for Nordic concern. My delegation therefore wishes to repeat in the Council the appeal made by COAG to other potential donors to contribute the balance required to make the WCARRD programme a success.
My delegation has reported the inclusion of nutrition as a standing item on the agenda on COAG as well as on the agenda on the Committee on Fisheries. This new area implies, however, that the already broad mandate COAG has been further expanded. Because of this vast mandate there is a risk in our view that discussions in COAG will be of too general a nature, especially compared with the discussions in the Committees on Fisheries and Forestry. When selecting topics dealing with selected development problems it is therefore necessary to strike a balance between subjects of a technical nature and subjects of a more social and economic character. At the same time it is also important to limit the total number of subjects and I would like to support the delegate of Yugoslavia to this effect. The topics proposed for the next session of COAG mentioned in paragraph 214 of the document seem to strike such a balance, but it would be preferential in our view if only one of the technical topics, that is either Plant Protection or Animal Health, was selected.
The discussions at the latest COAG meeting gained in our view considerably in both interest and time by the amalgamation in the discussion of the two agenda items, Medium and Long-Term Outlook and Summary Programme of Work Budget and we wish this procedure to be continued.
Finally, I wish to repeat an old wish of my delegation concerning the timing of COAG sessions. These sessions should, in our view, take place earlier during the interval between the FAO Conference in order to give the Committee a greater opportunity than hitherto really to influence the preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget and my delegation would appreciate the Secretariate views on this question.
F. MARTINEZ GOMEZ (México): Existen dentro de la temática que le corresponde al Comité de Agricultura diversos aspectos que por estar ligados al proceso básico de la producción de alimentos, son de inevitable importancia. Creemos que la forma en que éstos han sido tratados por la FAO, reflejan los intereses y prioridades dictadas por los países miembros de la Organización. En forma general, nuestra delegación apoya el Programa de Labores en el área de agricultura 1980-81, como el propuesto para 1982-83.
Sin embargo, quisiéramos destacar algunas áreas que consideramos merecen mayor atención. Coincidimos plenamente con el Comité de Agricultura en señalar la importancia que tiene el Programa de Recursos Fitogenéticos con la función de apyo del Consejo Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos. Evidentemente, que la labor de recolectar material fitogenético que realiza el Consejo Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos con el apoyo de FAO es muy importante. La razón estriba en la necesidad de recolectar plantas de interés agrícola en sus lugares de origen, que contienen una gran variedad genética.
Estos recursos fitogenéticos son la base que utilizan los investigadores para producir nuevas variedades con mayor capacidad de respuesta a determinadas condiciones de clima, suelo, insumos como fertilizantes, insecticidas y otros, que permiten aumentar la producción por unidad de superficie. Dichos recursos fitogenéticos son limitados y perecederos, y debido a los cambios en los precios de insumos, modificaciones tecnológicas y otros, requieren ser constantemente utilizados para la búsqueda de variedades que mejor respondan a dichos cambios.
La FAO y otros organismos internacionales han venido recolectando este material genético natural que se encuentra disperso principalmente en países en desarrollo, y lo han almacenado en diferentes bancos de germoplasma que existen en el mundo, ubicados en general en los países desarrollados, sin ningún compromiso legal que asegure su libre disponibilidad a la Comunidad Internacional.
Nuestra delegación considera que estos recursos fitogenéticos pertenecen a la comunidad mundial y que duplicados de las semillas ortodoxas deberían conservarse en un depósito internacional cuya sede y custodia puede ser la FAO, que asgure a través de una adecuada legislación, la disponibilidad y seguridad de éstos para el uso de generaciones futuras.
Diversas delegaciones expresaron durante la pasada Conferencia de FAO esta necesidad. También los representantes de países en desarrollo en diversas reuniones técnicas, han manifestado su interés porque se pudiese establecer dicho Banco. Los representantes de Afganistán, Irán, Iraq, Turquía, Pakistán y Siria, en una Reunión sobre Recursos Fitogenéticos del Suroeste Asiático que tuvo lugar en la Sede de la FAO en octubre de 1979, expresaron unánimemente este deseo.
Posteriormente durante la Conferencia Internacional sobre Recursos Fitogenéticos de interés agrícola, que tuvo lugar en marzo pasado, los representantes de los países latinoamericanos, a través del señor delegado del Perú, insistieron sobre el mismo punto. También en esta misma reunión sobre Recursos Fitogenéticos de Interés Agrícola, celebrada en Lima, Perú, el pasado mes de abril, los representantes de Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela acordaron: "que el intercambio de material entre países y regiones se vería grandemente facilitado mediante el establecimiento de un Banco Internacional cuya sede podría ser la FAO. Este Banco contaría con un estatuto propio que garantizara legislativamente los derechos de todos los países a acceder a los recursos fitogenéticos que hayan sido depositados libremente por los países y las instituciones públicas y privadas que así lo deseen. Esto contribuiría a evitar suspicacias y malentendidos y asegurarían altruisticamente la preservación de germoplasma para el beneficio actual y futuro de la humanidad". Nuestra delegación desearía que esta inquietud quedara reflejada en el Informe del Consejo.
El Programa de Labores y Presupuesto incluye una reestructuración del actual Programa de Recursos Fito-genéticos de la FAO que pasa a denominarse Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos. Nuestro país apoya dicha reestructuración y estima que dicho Centro debería incluir el Banco de Germoplasma. Consideramos que ello sería posible sin alteración presupuestaria y con la cooperación del Consejo Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos. En virtud de las recomendaciones de las representaciones antes señaladas, y de no haber inconvenientes, proponemos por parte de la Secretaría la preparación para la Conferencia de unos estudios sobre la implementación de esta propuesta. México estaría complacido en participar en el seguimiento de las acciones para llevarla a cabo.
En lo que se refiere a Nutrición, nuestra delegación apoya la idea de que en los Programas de Desarrollo Rural se incluyan los aspectos de nutrición. Coincidimos en la necesidad de que se lleven a cabo consultas entre los países a nivel regional durante las cuales la FAO podría asistir a los países miembros en la revisión de los programas y políticas de desarrollo rural. Conscientes de la gravedad de la desgravación del suelo, apoyamos plenamente la idea de que la FAO en sus programas utilice prácticas integradas para lograr un mejor aprovechamiento de la tierra, junto con las técnicas de lucha contra las erosiones de los suelos, particularmente en las regiones áridas y semiáridas.
Asimismo apoyamos los conceptos contenidos en el anteproyecto de una carta mundial de los suelos. Sería muy difícil que utilizando los actuales métodos tecnológicos de países desarrollados, se pueda desarrollar la agricultura en los países más pobres, en virtud de la gran cantidad de energía que ello implicaría, por ello apoyamos la idea de que la FAO, y otros organismos internacionales, en coordinación con los gobiernos promuevan la búsqueda de nuevas fuentes de energía para la agricultura procurando especialmente la utilización de recursos renovables en lugar de los no renovables.
Finalmente, consideramos que también es importante la investigación de nuevas fuentes de energía para evitar la utilización de cereales y alimentos básicos como fuentes de energía.
W.A.F. GRABISCH (Germany, Federal Republic of): My Government participated actively in theSixth Session of the Committe on Agriculture. The Report of the Session submitted , finds our full support. Allow me nevertheless some remarks about the most important topics with which COAG was dealing at its Sixth Session.
Firstly, in the discussion of the programme'of work on agriculture and food for 1980-81 my Government has agreed to the priorities listed in the document submitted. We are however of the opinion that for a complete assessment of the measures implemented still more comparable figures should in future be used and also difficulties pointed out which might have arisen.
Secondly, we are likewise able to support in principle medium-and long-term objectives in the food and agricultural sectors as well as proposals for the programme of work in the biennium 1982-83. We find it good that the agriculture programme for 1982-83 aims at increasing plant and animal production to eradicate hunger and malnutrition throughout the world, and in this respect special attention should be given to the African countries.
Thirdly, as regards the inclusion of nutrition issues in agricultural development projects we expressed the view - and I should like to repeat it in the Council again that even greater priority should be given to food and nutrition issues in national development planning and in the projects of FAO and that the collection and evaluation of statistical data necessary for assessment must be still further improved.
Fourthly, within the framework of a follow-up to the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development we consider the people's participation in the development process, the strengthening of the role of women, as well as agricultural training and extension to be priority activities.
Fifthly, the conservation of soil and water as the most important prerequisite for increasing agricultural production is in our view of greatest importance also for developing countries.
The discussion in COAG showed the increasing deterioration of the situation. Therefore, the request for comprehensive counter measures resulting therefrom finds our full support.
Sixthly, in conclusion, still a remark about energy and agriculture and rural development. Questions relating to energy saving and the creation of alternative sources of energy are undoubtedly sectors which must be examined intensively in the future. If there is a competition for certain agricultural products between food and energy production we feel, however, that priority must be given to the production of food. Let me also repeat here that my Government welcomes the establishment of the European Cooperative Research Network for Rural Energy and is prepared to cooperate.
A. ACUÑA (Panamá): Antes de hacer algunos comentarios sobre el Informe del Sexto Período de Sesiones del Comité de Agricultura, nuestra delegación desea felicitar al Presidente del mismo, señor Aidera por la forma realmente brillante como condujo los debates e igualmente lo felicitamos por la forma clara y precisa en que presento al Consejo el documento 79/9 que recoge el Informe del COAG.
Pasamos con su venia, señor Presidente, a formular algunos comentarios.
Sobre los cuatro temas generales tratados por el importante Comité de Agricultura de la FAO durante su Sexto Período de Sesiones, cuyo Informe consideramos en el tema 6 de este Consejo, la Delegación de Panamá desea formular las siguientes observaciones:
En los párrafos 53 y 56 se indica claramente lo acordado por el Comité de Agricultura en el sentido de que los objetivos y estrategias a largo y mediano plazo que fueron discutidos, reflejaban los problemas del sector y las actividades que debían de realizarse para conseguir un aumento anual de un 3 a un 4 por ciento en la producción de alimentos en los países en desarrollo; señalándose algo que consideramos más que oportuno recalcar en este Consejo y es lo relativo a la afluencia anual de asistencia financiera internacional que se necesita para lograr aproximadamente este 3 a 4 por ciento y que es conforme a estimación de la Secretaría entre 8 a 9 mil millones de dólares anuales a precios de 1975, durante los primeros años de la actual década.
Sobre el tema general; Problemas del Desarrollo y, dentro de éste, en particular las actividades complementarias de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural, nos complace y, por consiguiente, confiamos que la FAO continuará aplicando en forma oportuna y planificada el Programa de Acción de esta Conferencia. Igualmente nos llena de satisfacción.que esta Organización haya asumido las responsabilidades que la han sido conferidas en este Programa de Acción así como por la Resolución 7/79 de la Conferencia de la FAO en noviembre de 1979, tanto en relativo a sus funciones en los sectores de su competencia como a sus responsabilidades como organismo principal del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Rural.
Sobre este mismo tema deseamos destacar, señor Presidente, lo señalado en el último período de sesiones del Comité de Agricultura al destacar la importancia de la capacitación y la extensión agrícola, manifestándose la necesidad de pasar del concepto estrecho de la extensión agrícola al concepto más amplio de extensión rural.
Y con especial particularidad señalamos dos hechos sobre esta problemática que fueron aceptados por el COAG en el sentido de reconocer que una de las instituciones adecuadas para llevar a la práctica las conclusiones de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural a nivel regional, serían los centros regionales de desarrollo rural e igualmente la importante recomendación a que llegó el COAG en el sentido de que se integraran las preocupaciones socioeconómicas de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural con los aspectos agrotéoricos para dar así a éstos una perspectiva diferente.
La Delegación de Panamá considera, señor Presidente, que esta recomendación tiene un valor incalculable, y es muy positivo que el COAG haya llegado a la misma. Las experiencias nacionales y mundiales sustentan la importancia de esta recomendación.
Otros aspectos en torno al tema general: Problemas en desarrollo, que fueron examinados por el último COAG y sobre los cuales queremos abundar, es el tocante a la conservación de suelos y aguas y en particular lo referente a la necesidad de información sobre este problema que lleguen a considerar aspectos socioeconómicos para equilibrar la información disponible de estudios sobre usos de tierras aunque tales encuestas toquen aspectos delicados como, por ejemplo, costumbres sociales y consideraciones políticas. Así como el hecho de que los políticos, administradores, planificadores, trabajadores de extensión y la comunidad en general, reconozcan la amplitud, el peligro y el problema de los suelos y las posibilidades de impedir estos problemas. Esto contribuirá en forma creciente a resolver los difíciles problemas sobre capacitación e investigación, que tiendan, por ejemplo, a desarrollar sistemas agrícolas que puedan ofrecer alternativas viables a los cultivos migratorios, especialmente en áreas ecológicas y tropicales en la cual se encuentran ubicado nuestro país.
Sobre el tema de la energía en relación con la agricultura y el desarrollo rural, ya es de aceptación general el enfoque que le ha dado la FAO en la formulación de sus políticas y programas que llegarán finalmente a ser sancionadas por la Conferencia en su 21 período de sesiones de noviembre próximo.
Finalmente, señor Presidente, fuimos y somos partidarios durante el desarrollo del último COAG que en el Programa provisional de su séptimo período de sesiones se considerasen lo referente a las actividades complementarias de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Desarrollo Rural y Reforma Agraria, en especial referencia al papel de la mujer en la producción agrícola, así como a aspectos que tengan que ver con estrategias de acciones nacionales e internacionales en materia de sanidad animal y protección vegetal. Panamá, señor Presidente, por consideraciones particulares y propias le concede especial importancia a estos temas.
Por último apoyamos, y bien merece un análisis ulterior, la interesante propuesta realizada por la distinguida delegación de México, en el sentido de disponer en la FAO como sede y custodia de un Banco Internacional Citogenético y poder disponer cuanto antes de un estudio sobre este importante aspecto que fue planteado por la delegación mexicana.
M. A.A. AL-SANEH (Kuwait) (interpretation from Arabic): We should like first of all to thank the Chairman of COAG for the great deal of work he has put into the session of the COAG and into the preparation of this report and the presentation he has made, since his report gives us a very good view of the session. We fully support this report and what is written therein as regards medium- and long-term outlook for food and agricultural development, and we hope that the work proposed will be done to ensure that we can move towards a 4 percent annual growth rate in agricultural production.
We also support the proposal for the establishment of mechanisms to facilitate the introduction of nutrition into agriculture and rural development programmes including analysis of the relevant data and the need to stress the role of rural women in this connexion and in this context.
We take particular interest in nutrition and in people's participation in plans tending to develop an awareness of nutrition and the follow-up of nutrition and the development of national bodies dealing with nutritional improvements.
In addition, we support the efforts made by COAG and agreed upon by COAG towards the general development of future agricultural programmes to reflect the priorities set by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, in other words the proposal for follow-up to the World Conference, on Agricultural Reform and Rural Development and implementation of its Programme of Action. We feel that the participation at the grass roots level is. absolutely essential for a proper follow-up of this World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.
We also feel that it is necessary to give better training and extension facilities to farmers throughout the world with particular stress on new techniques and new approaches to help in better and better integrated rural development. We would like to express appreciation for the activities being undertaken and the proposed activities for the follow-up of WCARRD.
As regards the very important issue of soil and water conservation, we fully support the contents of the relevant section of the report, and we would particularly highlight the need to ensure greater awareness for everyone and the urgent need to do something about it, the need to have a world campaign on an intensive basis to prevent further soil degradation and waste of water.
Wè also support the view that of course it is up to governments primarily to take measures for soil and water conservation, but we feel that research and studies relating to soil and water conservation should be given a broader framework and given special attention in arid and semi-arid zones, and we also stress the importance of regional projects for soil and water conservation and watershed management so as to have a really broad basis for soil and water conservation and proper cooperation among developing countries.
As regards energy and agriculture in rural- development we support too what the COAG report has to say on these issues, in particular the need to place stress on energy conservation and on methods, techniques and systems of production which make the best effective and most economical use of energy as well as the need to tap new sources of energy.
In conclusion, we commend the adoption of this report as a whole.
M. KRIESBERG (United States of America): Our delegation joins the others here who have commended the work of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture and its excellent report contained in document CL 79/9. In our view, this was a particularly good session. The agenda included a number of important items which merited and received full discussion, and the background documents were very well prepared and have for the most part been received by the governments in timely fashion. Our delegation generally endorses the COAG report and the recommendations contained therein. We would, because it is such a wide-ranging report, as commensurate with the wide-ranging discussion in the COAG committee, limit our comments to a few items in the report.
We note, for example, that the Committee commended the Secretariat for the achievements made in the implementation of programmes for 1980/81 under the major programme 2.1, which is the broad area of agriculture. The Committee also suggested, however, that it would be helpful in the future to have a more precise evaluation of the success of the implementation of Programme activities and of the constraints and problems that they might have encountered. Our delegation concurs both in the commendation and in the suggestion. We hope that the Secretariat indeed would initiate a systematic evaluation of how effectively programmes are being administered or being carried out on some kind of selective basis.
Regarding the Committee's decision to discuss jointly its agenda items on medium- and long-term outlooks for food and agricultural development and the item on the Summary Programme of Work and Budget for the succeeding biennium, we believe the approach taken was useful and the joint discussion of these items at future Committee sessions would appear to us to be useful.
In connexion with the discussion of soil and water conservation, the Committee received the Secretariat's draft of a world soil charter. This proposal was appended to the Committee Report so it might come to the attention of this Council. As we began our study of this appended paper, we found that there were many good elements in the paper which merit support. Its value is that it can help focus attention on the problems of soil use and conservation, underscoring the fact that the world's soil resources are limited, that they are not being protected adequately and that stronger commitment for the protection of soils by many governments is indeed needed. We assume that if the draft is revised, the Secretariat will take into account the comments made by the Committee on Agriculture, particularly the Committee's conclusion that the main responsibility for initiating soil conservation programmes remains with the governments. The U.S. sees the formulation of a soil and water charter and of its guidelines for action to be voluntary in nature. Hence we question the appropriateness of the last paragraph on the list of action guidelines which suggest that consideration be given to incorporating such guidelines or principles into some international resource legislation.
Further in connexion with the discussion on soil and water conservation, we feel that there is a dearth of good information on the effects of soil degradation, on soil productivity and on the past effectiveness of measures that are thought to constitute sound land use. Perhaps the Secretariat might give more emphasis on the needed factual information that would make soil policy less of an emotional issue and more of a practical tool for setting national government priorities in this area.
Finally, our delegation affirms its support of the Committee recommendations of topics to be considered for inclusion on its agenda for the next COAG session. We feel that plant protection and animal health activities and programmes of FAO are important and should be examined in depth. These programme activities are important factors for increasing and maintaining increased production of both animals and plants.
We also agree that the topic of WCARRD and follow-up with special emphasis on the role of women in agricultural development are other important and timely topics. We would hope that the role of women would be given due emphasis, perhaps including their role in food marketing and food processing as well as in the general development field.
P.S. McLEAN (United Kingdom): My few remarks on this item will be largely confined to thoughts about the role of COAG within the structure of FAO
My delegation strongly supports the essential role of COAG as one of the major committees under the constitution of FAO with its duty to assist the Council in the performance of its functions. We attach particular importance to the functions of this Committee, both as advisor to the Council on the medium-and longer-term programmes of work of the Organization in relation to agriculture, food, and nutrition, and in its task of conducting periodic reviews and appraisals on a highly selective basis of agricultural and nutritional problems.
We therefore always endeavour to send to COAG meetings fully qualified technicians with the capacity to speak both in general terms on the questions of agriculture and nutrition, and more particularly about the evaluation of work in the field and on the specific technical problems. We would, incidentally, therefore always wish to urge that as many Member Nations as are in a position to do so, should send to COAG meetings delegations with full technical qualifications in the areas to be discussed so that the opportunity can be taken for a searching review of the matters within the Committee's competence.
We consider this was amply demonstrated at what we felt was a most successful 6th Session, whose report we have under consideration.
A wider representation of countries in COAG should also be matched by a review of the effectiveness of these proceedings, and in this context we would draw a distinction between two main areas, first, the general review of FAO's programmes in the fields of interest to COAG, and secondly, COAG's function as an evaluator of the work already completed or in hand.
As regards the general programmes, my Government has always had a high regard for the quality of the papers which deal with matters of more specific technical interest, for example nutrition, where the issues are always well examined in a way which enables COAG to reach an informed conclusion, which in turn allows the FAO to proceed with programmes in the areas concerned.
On the more general planning papers, however, such as those presented as part of the background to the Programme of Work and Budget, we are frankly not so sure that these enable COAG to reach a fully informed decision on FAO's priorities and plans for the next biennium, although again we appreciate that this is an extremely difficult matter for members of a committee which is concerned with technicalities and not necessarily with financial affairs.
In our view, however, this is a slight risk that this kind of broad brush approach giving general priorities and strategies, while of course necessary and important, may lead to a situation where again, frankly, the statements are so general they are unexceptionable, but at the same time do not necessarily provide a really adequate forecast of FAO's proposed activities.
This leads us to the question of evaluation of current activities. We fully appreciate the efforts made by FAO in the review of field programmes and general programmes to give Conference a general overview of its activities, and we understand again there are great difficulties in preparing documents of this kind in time for a Conference, still less in time for detailed consideration by COAG. We feel, however, that these documents are still too broad,in essence, in their approach, and not detailed enough, and that something more specific, even if more narrowly aimed, is called for.
We therefore suggest two possible courses of action, first, that consideration might be given to the presentation to COAG of a very detailed examination of a small component within a particular field programme, giving information on the forecast, the problems encountered, the action taken to overcome the problems, and the final benefit where this is possible to quantify. The subject to be covered at any one meeting should normally be chosen by the previous meeting of COAG.
Secondly, we think this means a change in the usual date for COAG. Many of the programmes to be evaluated would have been in operation for a full biennium, and this means that on its current date COAG would face an impossible task of evaluating an ongoing programme whose final outcome was by no means as yet assured.
So it would be better in our view - and I echo the thoughts of Sweden - if COAG held meetings in the inter-Conference years, at which time the full data for the Conference for the previous biennium would have been completed, and the final results in most cases at least would be known. We appreciate this suggestion imposes other problems of timing for the Secretariat with FAO's crowded programmes of meetings, but we think a COAG meeting at this revised time would in fact be more effective, and we note it is not prohibited by Rule XXXII of the General Rules. It would still enable COAG to carry out its planning function as at present in the months immediately preceding the Conference.
If this procedure were adopted, the COAG meeting prior to the Conference would proceed on the basis of full knowledge of the evaluation of the work of the previous biennium already carried out, and would therefore, we believe, be in a better position to pronounce on the proposals for the future. We will welcome the Secretariat's views on this suggestion.
Finally, once again, I would ask if during this debate, Mr. Chairman, you would allow the representative of the Commission of the European Communities to make a short statement on the subject we have under debate.
CHAIRMAN: I now still have the following speakers: Pakistan, Madagascar, Venezuela, Cuba, Kenya, Barbados, Canada, France, Poland, Congo, El Salvador, Malaysia, and two Observers, OECD and EEC.
Mrs. M. AKHTAR (Pakistan): The Pakistan delegation would like to congratulate the FAO Secretariat for the excellent document produced, covering the proceedings of the 6th Session of the Committee on Agriculture. It broadly gives the guidelines covering the different priorities in the agriculture sector. We support these priorities, as they are in line with the strategies that Pakistan is following to achieve an annual growth rate of 4 percent to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. However, we particularly endorse the Committee's recommendation that greater attention be paid to the improvement of water use at farm level.
Our own experience is that water is a critical input, and if losses are curtailed through improvement in water channels, crop production can be stepped up. An on-farm water management scheme is in operation in my country, and I do hope other developing countries will intensify their efforts to rehabilitate and improve existing irrigation.
May I state that the Government of Pakistan has endorsed the WCARRD plan of action, and has taken measures consistent with the country's resources to increase productivity and provide basic necessary infra-structural services through participation of people in the institution of local councils.
Rural women have been identified as a target group, and special programmes are under way to improve health, nutrition, literacy, and to improve skills in production. An exercise has also been undertaken to identify the implications of the WCARRD plan of action, but one of the constraints experienced is the lack of reliable statistics - for example, in areas such as rural women and their contribution to the GNP. We feel it would be necessary to have some baseline studies in this regard.
I am also happy to report that a project has been initiated with the assistance of FAO for monitoring an evaluation of the anti-poverty programmes which will come into operation in the next financial year.
I would, however, like to make some points in regard to certain issues which have been dealt with in this document. On page 3, paragraph 20, while emphasizing the need to pay greater attention to the improvement of root and tuber crops in areas where cereal production is not an important activity, mention has been made that research should be carried out on traditional varieties, and that the introduction of modern varieties should be limited. While we support the emphasis on the necessity of improving root and tuber crops, it may be stated that a major portion of the world food requirements are dependent on the production of cereal crops and in fact area under cereals is much larger than area under root and tuber crops. While root and tuber crops should be improved, we feel FAO may continue to pay greater attention to activities relating to the development and improvement of cereal crops.
In this connexion, may we also refer to the emphasis on traditional varieties, suggesting that the introduction of modern varieties should be limited? It is well known that agriculture in most of the developing countries stagnated for a number of years until the introduction of new high-yielding varieties. Many developing countries have currently switched over to the production of high-yielding varieties. To ask these countries to revert to traditional varieties may mean a set-back to agricultural development. While traditional varieties should rightly be used for developing improved varieties possessing resistance to disease and pests, the time has come to think about a better technology through which even higher production can be achieved without heavy reliance on the excessive use of expensive inputs.
In this connexion, the Pakistan delegation would wish to emphasize the need to concentrate on the development of hybrid technology as far as possible in respect of different crops to harness hybrid vigour of the crops which is a natural gift, and by way of which not only the yield potential of the crops can be increased, but with which it should be possible to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides substantially.
We would therefore ask that due consideration should also be given to this aspect.
The Committee on Agriculture in its report has expressed concern regarding the increase of weeds, which has come about due to the use of fertilizers. This is certainly a serious development. Unfortunately little research has been undertaken on the subject to find ways and means of eradicating this menace. The Pakistan delegation would like to suggest that FAO should pay attention to the control of weeds and enable Member Countries to strengthen their research capabilities. We are quite sure that with the successful implementation of weed control a substantial improvement in production could be achieved.
With regard to the introduction of appropriate animal-drawn implements, while we fully support the proposal in principle, the Pakistan delegation would like to sound a note of caution. Many countries have gradually switched from animal power to mechanization. While there is much to be said for and against animal power - and for that matter, against mechanical power - it should not be forgotten that optimization of power for improving production is of paramount importance. An increase in the number of animals is neither feasible in the near future nor would it be desirable because of the competition for food between human beings and beasts. In fact, in countries where there is a shortage of land and water resources, it is perhaps more desirable to release land from fodder production for use for food production, to meet the increasing requirements of the human population and for producing raw material for industry.
In this connexion the Pakistan delegation would like to urge upon FAO to assess how best agricultural mechanization can be successfully introduced to replace bullock power gradually. Cheap alternative sources of energy for reducing the cost of mechanization also need to be explored.
May we in this connexion suggest that attention to research on the water buffalo, an animal of great potential and importance in my country and in many other countries, may pay dividends.
In regard to nutrition, we support paragraphs 136 (i) and 136.(ü). Insofar as paragraph 136 (iii) is concerned, in addition to strengthening the national data collection system and identifying groups on the brink of malnutrition, the establishment of a nutrition surveillance system would be of great assistance to a large number of developing countries including Pakistan. This system should, inter alia, provide assistance for the control of food adulteration and provision of modern laboratories with facilities for on-the-job training for analysts and food inspectors.
As regards paragraph 136(iv), while emphasis has been placed on mid-level training, to which we have no objection, we would like to suggest that since the necessary infrastructure in developing countries is lacking, this activity would have to be undertaken by project planners or specialized institutes. We therefore feel that the training programme should be oriented not only at the mid-level but should also include project planners and executives of development programmes.
T.C. RAJAONA (Madagascar): Je vais être bref. Je voudrais tout d'abord remercier et féliciter le Président du Comité de l'agriculture pour nous avoir fait une excellente présentation de son rapport.
Ma délégation a écouté avec une grande attention les conclusions auxquelles est parvenu ce Comité. En particulier, elle fait sienne la recommandation adressée à la FAO pour le suivi du Programme d'action de la CMRADR.
En effet, nous voudrions souligner que les deux notions de réforme agraire et de développement rural rendent compte du vif intérêt vers lequel l'Organisation devrait tendre pour appréhender et combattre la pauvreté rurale, la faim et la malnutrition avec une plus grande justice sociale. Aussi ma délégation appuie-t-elle la recommandation visant à affecter la totalité des ressources prévues pour ce Programme. Enfin ma délégation s'associe avec celle de l'Inde pour appuyer la totalité du Rapport du COAG par le Conseil.
H.L. CLAVERIE RODRIGUEZ (Venezuela): La delegación de Venezuela saluda con gran simpatía el Informe del Comité de Agricultura sobre su Sexto Período de Sesiones. Igualmente, congratulamos a su Presidente, amigo y estimado Sr. Aidara, del Senegal, por la lúcida y concreta presentación del mismo. Estamos totalmente de acuerdo con él en que fue un período de sesiones inusual por lo positivo y productivo de sus labores. Nuestra delegación apoya en su esencia y contenido este Informe del COAG y todos los temas por él tratados. Pero muy especialmente quisiéramos dejar constancia del interés que ha originado en la delegación venezolana la inclusion y la forma como se trataron temas de tanta relevancia e importancia como los relativos a la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural, y a la Energía en relación con la Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural.
Discutimos en el Comité a fondo estos dos temas y otros tantos durante el período de sesiones. Por ello, y dado que no se presenta a consideración de este Consejo ningún punto específico, no vamos a entrar en la discusión de los mismos. Pero sí queremos dejar constancia de que los observamos con enorme interés y apoyamos su inclusion y continuación en las Agendas de este Comité. Expresamos en tal sentido a la FAO nuestra simpatía por los esfuerzos y recursos que ha concedido y viene concediendo al seguimiento de los mandatos de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural y a su Plan de Acción, tema éste que como sabe este Consejo, le es muy caro a nuestra delegación.
En este sentido, deseamos dejar constancia de lo narrado en el párrafo 215, sobre el seguimiento de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y la forma como el Comité previo el mismo en las sesiones siguientes del Comité, y también al rol de las mujeres en el desarrollo rural, tal como lo trató la misma Conferencia.
Apoyamos también las actividades de investigación en la agricultura que adelanta la FAO, y en este contexto, saludamos con deferencia el interés demostrado por la Organización al copatrocinar con otras relevantes instituciones de carácter mundial, durante el mes de abril del corriente año, una reunión en Lima, Perú, dentro del ámbito de la región Andina formada por Colombia, Perú, Bolivia, Ecuador y Venezuela, para el desarrollo de los recursos fitogenéticos y en cuyo informe final, tal cual como dejó sentado con detalle mayor la distinguida delegación de México, se apoya la creación de un Banco Regional de Germoplasma, Lo cual nos recuerda un poco que también en esta Casa se ha estudiado en el pasado reciente el aspecto de los depósitos genéticos y de su gran importancia para el desarrollo agrícola alimentario. Tomamos nota con interés de los aspectos relativos a la conservación de suelos, y muy especialmente, al Mapa de Suelos que levanta la FAO. Nuestra delegación también comparte la idea sobre la necesidad de concretar aún más en el futuro la temática del Comité de Agricultura tal como se ha presentado por varias delegaciones que me precedieron en el uso de la palabra.
Creemos que la dispersión de materias a tratarse hace correr el riesgo de estudiarlas todas con indeseable ligereza. Antes de terminar, deseamos dejar constancia muy especial de nuestro reconocimiento al distinguido Presidente del Comité de Agricultura por la forma seria y eficiente como viene desempeñando sus responsabilidades al frente de este Comité tan válido para los fines de esta Organización.
P.A. MORALES CARBALLO (Cuba): Quiero en primer lugar felicitar al Sr. Aidara, Representante del Senegal, por el buen informe que nos ha presentado en el día de hoy sobre las labores del Comité de Agricultura, informe con el cual él concluye su excelente labor como Presidente de dicho Comité.
Durante los debates y consideraciones sobre la discusión del Programa de Labores 1980-81 que está por finalizar, nuestra delegación tuvo la oportunida de referirse en detalle sobre el mismo. En esa ocasión reconocimos el buen trabajo del Departamento de Agricultura y lo reiteramos ahora. Pusimos de relieve las tareas realizadas en los estudios sobre zonas agroecológicas, la conservación de recursos genéticos y recogida de germoplasma, la conservación de suelos, los trabajos sobre ganadería, etc., y la tarea realizada junto con el Departamento Económico y Social en lo que se refiere a la ejecución y puesta en práctica del Plan de Acción y la Declaración de Principio sobre la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural.
En relación con la labor o las labores del proximo bienio 1982-83, apoyamos las prioridades contenidas en el mismo, y también el nivel presupuestario necesario para su ejecución.
Con respecto a las labores del futuro, nos encontramos entre aquellas delegaciones que consideran muy importante que los acuerdos y recomendaciones de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria y Desarrollo Rural se consideren en el proximo Comité de Agricultura, sobre todo en lo que se refiere a sus aspectos más sobresalientes, según la Declaración de Principio y el Plan de Acción, y resaltamos una vez más el papel del líder que juega la FAO en la ejecución de estos programas.
Con respecto a la nutrición, estamos de acuerdo con su importancia pero partiendo siempre del principio de que lo más importante es nutrir, es comer, es decir, que sólo con el aumento de la producción agrícola es que estas acciones podrán tener pleno impacto en una acción concreta.
En relación con el séptimo período de sesiones del Comité de Agricultura, apoyamos lo que se indica en el párrafo 214, y reiteramos nuestro acuerdo con el Informe que se nos presenta, tal y como está incluyendo todas sus recomendaciones para el futuro.
Finalmente, nosotros queríamos asociarnos plenamente con la preocupación expresada por la distinguida delegación de Suecia en lo que se refiere al párrafo 143 y los recursos para poner en práctica los acuerdos de la Conferencia Mundial de Reforma Agraria.
Estimamos, igualmente, de gran importancia - y por eso la apoyamos vivamente - la propuesta de la hermana delegación de México de que sería muy oportuno y necesario también un estudio sobre la manera de implementar un Banco Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos cuya sede y custodia, según las palabras del propio delegado, sería la FAO. Nos parece que es una idea excelente, una idea muy vinculada al futuro que podría poner en manos de los países en desarrollo ese potencial tan extraordinario que son los recursos fitogenéticos y que muchas veces por no disponer de los canales para llegar hacia ellos, no se puede obtener el máximo. Por ello esa recomendación, esa sugerencia de México, la apoyamos. No queremos extendernos mucho más. Como dijimos al principio, nuestra delegación durante el Comité de Agricultura fue muy activa, tanto en la consideración del Programa 1980-81 como en el Programa de Labores 1982-83, y cuyas prioridades fundamentales nosotros apoyamos.
G.M. RIMANI (Kenya) : My country was represented in the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture and I would say at the outset that my delegation gives its whole support to the recommendations made in this report. I wish, however, to make a few brief comments on some of the issues raised.
With regard to the introduction of Nutrition in Agriculture and Rural Development Programmes, my delegation notes that most developing countries are not only faced with problems of hunger but also malnutrition and we support the Committee's report that nutritional aspects need to be included in agricultural and rural development programmes.
I intend not to narrate the problems and misery brought about by malnutrition, for example the lowering of resistance to diseases, besides the reduced productivity of millions of people all over the world. FAO is in a good position to assist national governments in developing guidelines in rural development programmes as well as providing technical assistance.needed in incorporating and initiating such programmes. Nutrition programmes themselves involve a considerable amount of education and this again the FAO can assist with the teaching methodology, teaching material, as well as building of local expertise and developing the evaluation methods.
On Soil and Water Conservation my delegation considers this to be a very important aspect on agricultural development. With the world population increasing and the hunger and malnutrition problems getting worse there is a danger of farmers cutting down forests and cultivating on steep slopes without taking measures to conserve soil and water. In this my delegation notes that food and other commodities should not be produced at the expense of resources that are very difficult to replace. My delegation supports strongly the campaign to create awareness of the dangers of soil erosion and to promote ways and means of conserving soil and water. Soil conservation methods currently used in many countries may tend to be rather laborious and some of them are not effective enough and we support that the methods should be updated for research.
On Energy in Agriculture, my delegation notes the need to conserve energy. Equally important is to develop other sources of energy, for example, biomass, wind,solar and even mors use of animals in agricultural work. Projects need to be promoted to utilize such in agricultural resources.
Finally, we would like to underline the caution sounded on the excessive use of food commodities as an energy source, noting detrimental effects that this practice may have particularly on the food-importing countries.
C. GOODING (Barbados): My delegation welcomes the report of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture, that is document CL 79/9. First of all, let me join other delegations in extending my appreciation to the Chairman of that Committee for the very comprehensive introduction which he offered the Council earlier this morning.
Generally speaking we think that COAG has been rather thorough in its deliberations. We think too that the report provides us with a rather strong basis on which we can assess the activities of FAO insofar as food and agriculture is concerned. In this regard, we think that the Committee is to be highly commended .
Much has already been said by previous speakers,hence there are only a few brief observations which my delegation would want to make.
We would first of all like to express our support for paragraph 55 of the document CL 79/9. We feel very strongly that the developing countries can do much to enhance their own position with regard to increased food production to sharing each other's experiences. We feel, too, that efforts in this direction can go a long way to augment any assistance which can be forthcoming from developed countries. Also my delegation would like to give support to FAO's activities with respect to Nutrition in Agricultural and Rural Development. We feel that FAO is quite justified in taking the leading role in this area. We nevertheless hope that every effort will be made to encourage cooperation and coordination with other agencies working in this area wherever feasible and possible. In this connexion ,if I may just mention that the Caribbean Food and Nutritional Institute is quite active in the Caribbean area. We feel other countries could help quite"considerably as far as the efficient utilization of financial and other resources are concerned.
Another area which we feel we are obliged to comment on is the area of Soil and Water Conservation. We are deeply impressed with the interest shown by FAO in this area. As you know our country is a very small one, with very limited agricultural land. Indeed, some one seventh of our country is seriously affected by erosion problems. I may inform you that over some 20 years now our government has been striving to implement soil and water conservation in affected areas. You will no doubt appreciate that these efforts represent a strain on our limited financial resources. That is why my delegation welcomes this opportunity to express its full appreciation of the observations and recommendations of the Sixth Session on the Committee on Agriculture as outlined on page vi of document CL 79/9. We will also like to express our special appreciation insofar as the efforts being made as regards a World Soil Charter as outlined in the draft at Appendix F of the document CL 79/9.
In closing, I want to state my delegation's general support for the document as presented.
A, RENAUD (Canada) : La délégation du Canada se joint, à toutes les autres délégations qui ont pris la parole jusqu'ici et qui ont souligné le succès de la sixième réunion du Comité de l'Agriculture, le COAG. Nous en étions déjà informés outre-Atlantique par nos propres délégués qui y avaient participé mais nous sommes heureux de constater que leur impression a été confirmée par tout ce qui a été dit jusqu'ici, à savoir que cette sixième conférence est un succès, non seulement par le nombre des pays représentés, comme le Président du Comité l'a mentionné ce matin, mais également par la qualité des représentants, leurs compétences techniques et j'ajouterai en ce qui nous intéresse l'atmosphère plutôt professionnelle que politique ou financière dans laquelle se sont déroulées les discussions du Comité.
La délégation du Canada voudrait également se joindre à celle du Royaume-Uni et à d'autres aussi pour soulever la question: n'y aurait-il pas possibilité de coordonner un peu mieux la rencontre des trois comités techniques qui se rapportent au Conseil, à savoir COFO, COFI, COAG, en sorte qu'ils puissent véritablement évaluer le travail qui s'est fait à partir de la première année biennale et également avoir une certaine influence pour fournir au secrétariat des réactions intelligentes lorsque le secrétariat, comme il l'a fait pour le COAG, manifeste ses intentions en ce qui concerne le budget et le programme de travail? Je crois qu'il faudra étudier cette question là d'une façon plus appropriée. Nous avons des comités de travail depuis quelques années seulement et il est visible qu'ils s'acheminent vers une véritable réflexion sur les activités et les programmes de la FAO mais, pour en tirer plein profit, je crois qu'il faudrait peut-être synchroniser un peu mieux leurs rencontres et également intégrer leurs réflexions avec les réflexions et l'analyse faites par le Comité du Programme et le Comité des Finances.
En ce qui concerne le document de travail qui nous a été soumis, le rapport du Conseil, la délégation du Canada est enchantée de voir comment les perspectives à moyen et à long terme du développement en matière d'alimentation et d'agriculture se projettent de plus en plus sur la ligne de base établie par "Agriculture: Horizon 2000", et c'est exactement ce que la conférence avait demandé il y a deux ans à la suite de la publication de ce document de travail et nous espérons par ailleurs que le secrétariat mettra à jour "Agriculture: Horizon 2000" à partir d'autres études subséquentes qui ont été faites dans différents pays, en particulier aux Etats-Unis avec "Global 2000". J'espère que ceci sera pris en ligne de compte par la direction.
Dans le secteur des ressources naturelles il n'est pas besoin d'insister. Je crois que nous en sommes de plus en plus convaincus, que nous sommes tous sur ce vaisseau spatial appelé la Terre, et que peu importent nos allégeances politiques, idéologiques ou religieuses, nous allons ensemble vers notre salut ou nous allons sombrer ensemble. C'est pour cela que l'inventaire complet de nos ressources, comme l'utilisation de ces ressources et la préservation de l'environnement, revêtent de plus en plus une importance absolument radicale et la délégation du Canada tient à souligner, ce que d'autres délégations ont fait, la valeur de l'instrument de travail que la FAO a commencé à produire. Cet avant-projet a été présenté au COAG sous le sigle COAG/81 Inf. 1. Nous souhaitons que la FAO continuera à perfectionner ce document en utilisant les techniques les plus récentes et qui continuent de s'améliorer en sorte que chaque pays et tous ensemble nous pourrons mieux comprendre ce qui se passe sur notre planète.
Les études qui ont été faites, les programmes qui concernent les énergies dans l'agriculture, le développement rural, n'ont pas besoin d'être soulignés. Nous sommes tous conscients de l'augmentation des prix des fertilisants. En ce qui concerne les opérations agricoles, peut-être sommes-nous un peu obsédés par le modèle nord-américain où nous avons nos camarades au-delà du quarante-neuvième parallèle et nous de la région de l'Amérique du Nord' qui avons réussi à produire des surplus mais à partir d'une très grande utilisation de fertilisants et de pétrole.
Ce n'est pas nécessairement le seul modèle. Il ne faut pas oublier que l'humanité a réussi à survivre pendant des millénaires sans pétrole, et en utilisant ce qu'il y avait dans la nature depuis toujours. Il faut peut-être encourager les recherches de ce côté et trouver des formules rénovées de ce qui a réussi pendant des siècles.
Nous voulons quand même rejoindre une certaine préoccupation d'autres délégations en ce qui concerne l'utilisation des produits agro-alimentaires qui pourraient servir à l'alimentation comme substituts de source d'énergie. Il est compréhensible que les pays qui ont des surplus dans ce genre de production, comme le sucre, aient la tentation d'utiliser ces produits à des fins énergétiques. Mais nous croyons au Canada que c'est quelque chose qu'il faut surveiller, parce qu'il faut tout de même un rendement, et si l'énergie dépensée pour produire un surplus coûte plus cher, le rendement du coté de l'alimentation des populations, tant nationale que mondiale, étant inférieur, mais à ce coût, il faudra certainement réfléchir.
Il est inutile de dire que nous sommes très heureux de lire ce qui est dit de l'introduction de la nutrition dans le développement agricole et rural. Nous croyons que l'expression est très heureuse, d'abord parce que nous sommes tous préoccupés par la sous-alimentation dans le monde, et nous croyons peut-être trop facilement que toute augmentation de la production agricole va résoudre le problème de la sous-alimentation. Je crois que ceux qui m'écoutent en ce moment sont conscients qu'il n'en est pas ainsi. Certains produits agricoles peuvent enrayer la famine, peuvent enrayer la mort, mais ce ne sont pas nécessairement ces produits qui combattront efficacement la sous-alimentation. C'est pour cela que je crois que l'introduction de la nutrition comme concept dans les projets de développement agricole est certainement bienvenue parce que sans cette dimension de nutrition, tous les succès que nous pourrions avoir dans les cultures de certaines céréales ne changeraient pas grand-chose à la qualité de l'alimentation des populations concernées. En Amérique du Nord, alors que nous avons si bien réussi à produire du blé, nous sommes à même de constater que tout un secteur de nos populations, tant aux Etats-Unis qu'au Canada, malgré des dimensions anatomiques imposantes, est sous-alimenté parce qu'il consomme surtout des produits venant du blé, des pommes de terre, etc. C'est pour cette raison que nous sommes heureux de voir la poussée de la FAO dans le secteur nutrition.
Egalement, puisque nous avons des préoccupations à propos du budget de la FAO, nous sommes heureux de voir que cette introduction ne comporte pas de dépenses majeures, mais qu'elle peut simplement chevaucher tous les projets de développement dans le secteur agricole et de l'alimentation qui sont mis en marche, soit sous les auspices de la FAO, soit à l'intérieur des pays en voie de développement, en sorte que la composante nutrition n'est pas une rivale, pas même une parallèle comme cela est de temps en temps entre agences des Nations Unies : la santé d'un côté, l'agriculture de l'autre. Il n'en est pas ainsi de la nutrition parce qu'elle veut simplement faire "piggy-bag'' sur les projets déjà en cours. Nous sommes donc heureux de voir cette poussée de la FAO et nous chercherons par tous les moyens de l'appuyer.
Le plus gros ''item" du COAG et de la FAO est représenté par les suites à donner à la Conférence mondiale sur la réforme agraire pour le développement rural. Je dis que c'est ce qu'il y a de plus important parce que ce sont les conclusions de cette Conférence qui donnent une intégration aux différents programmes, non seulement de la FAO, mais des différents pays, développés comme en voie de développement, en ce qui concerne l'amélioration de la qualité de la vie dans le monde rural. Il est plus difficile d'intégrer les données que de euivre un secteur : on a besoin de tant d'argent pour produire tant de choses, production de bovins, par exemple, et suivre les projets à terme. Il est très difficile d'intégrer tout cela autour de la population rurale et de voir comment cela va augmenter la qualité de la vie. Il y a là encore inévitablement du travail à faire pour amener à terme cette intégration qui se reflète sur beaucoup d'autres préoccupations qui sont les nôtres, comme l'amélioration des cultures traditionnelles, l'utilisation de la biomasse pour l'énergie, la protection des recherches, la commercialisation des produits à l'intérieur du pays. Je crois qu'il est très juste que le COAG se soit donné comme mandat de réviser encore l'an prochain les efforts dans ce sens.
Ceci m'amènera très brièvement au paragraphe 119 qui concerne le rôle de la FAO vis-à-vis de la CNUCED (en anglais UNCTAD), à savoir comment la FAO doit éviter de faire double emploi avec cet autre organisme qui est responsable de mettre en marche ce qu'on appelle les "commodities".
Selon notre appréciation, le paragraphe 119 est un peu imprécis. Nous reconnaissons certainement que la FAO doit donner son soutien technique lorsqu'il est demandé par la CNUCED, et par ailleurs, que la FAO doit éviter le double emploi et ne pas s'aventurer trop dans le marché des "commodities".
Cela rejoint un problème dont nous avons parlé la semaine dernière, à savoir l'élaboration des priorités dans les opérations de la FAO. Comment maintenir l'équilibre financier et d'ordre personnel, professionnel, entre ce qui est agriculture en général et développement ? Il est certain qu'à l'époque où nous sommes, le développement prend une priorité, parce qu'actuellement la population humaine explose. Il n'en reste pas moins que la FAO, comme organisme mondial, doit maintenir cet équilibre, et ce n'est pas facile.
Nous espérons quand même que le Directeur général et son personnel, aidés par tous les commentaires que nous faisons lors de nos réunions de comités et du Conseil, réussiront à trouver cet équilibre.
J.N. MENARD (France) : Je voudrais moi aussi féliciter le Président du Comité de l'agriculture, M. Aidara, pour l'excellente introduction qu'il nous a faite, en sa qualité de Président du COAG, et le remercier pour avoir présidé cette session. Tout le monde ici a souligné le caractère très intéressant de ce qui en est sorti.
En effet, ma délégation a étudié avec soin le rapport de la sixième session du COAG. Nous avons noté que dans l'ensemble ce Comité a fait un excellent travail dont le secrétariat a tiré un rapport riche en idées intéressantes. Je crois que le COAG a montré sa grande utilité en tant que comité technique pour autant que nos pays y envoient des experts qualifiés de haut niveau.
Je crois que la suggestion faite par le Royaume-Uni, reprise par M. Renaud et d'autres orateurs, mériterait peut-être de faire l'objet d'une réflexion plus approfondie pour organiser le travail des comités techniques qui montrent de plus en plus leur utilité et comment utiliser les idées qui en sortent pour la vie de notre Organisation.
Après tant d'exposés intéressants sur la substance du rapport, je voudrais simplement me limiter à quelques brefs commentaires.
La délégation française partage entièrement l'opinion du COAG sur le rôle qui doit être celui de la FAO en matière d'introduction de la nutrition dans les projets de développement. Quelle organisation peut être mieux placée que l'organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture pour mener la lutte contre la malnutrition dans le monde ? Il nous paraît tout à fait légitime que la FAO joue ce rôle, il faut lui donner les moyens des ambitions qu'elle doit avoir dans ce domaine de la nutrition.
Nous sommes d'ailleurs d'autre part convaincus que la FAO peut recevoir toute la collaboration nécessaire de la part des gouvernements des pays bénéficiaires pour agir efficacement en cette matière dans l'introduction de la nutrition dans les projets de développement.
A cet égard, nous tenons particulièrement à souligner l'importance de la formation dans ces programmes de nutrition, formation d'agents au niveau supérieur, mais également au niveau intermédiaire des vulgarisateurs en contact avec les populations rurales. Il nous paraît utile de voir figurer la nutrition à l'ordre du jour du COAG. La délégation française pour sa part s'attachera à participer activement aux discussions sur ce sujet comme dans le passé, car la FAO doit continuer à jouer son rôle de leader pour ce qui est de la question de la nutrition dans le développement.
La délégation française apporte aussi son soutien aux initiatives prises par le Directeur général dans le domaine de l'énergie en agriculture. ' Comme cela a déjà été dit ici, mon pays sera heureux d'accueillir en France en automne prochain la réunion constitutive du réseau européen sur l'énergie en agriculture. Nous espérons que ce réseau contribuera rapidement à un réel transfert de technologie en direction des pays en développement.
Et puisque nous parlons de réunions scientifiques, nous sommes également heureux d'annoncer la tenue en France, à Montpellier, à la fin du mois de novembre, de la réunion du groupe d'experts de la FAO sur la mécanisation en agriculture. Le thème de cette réunion sera la mécanisation et l'utilisation des pesticides dans les cultures. Ce groupe d'experts se penchera sur les méthodes de cultures sans labour, notamment sur les traitements insecticides à bas volume. Ce sont des techniques qui sont certainement prometteuses pour l'économie d'énergie et pour la lutte contre l'érosion.
Un mot rapide sur le développement rural et sur le suivi de la Conférence sur la réforme agraire.
Ma délégation n'a pas à proprement parler de réserves à formuler sur le rapport du COAG, mais ressent plutôt une certaine inquiétude, bien que le mot soit un peu fort. Nous constatons en effet que les progrès dans la mise en oeuvre des recommandations de la Conférence mondiale sont peut-être assez variables, en fonction des situations propres à chaque pays. Ma délégation souhaite naturellement que des progrès rapides soient faits le plus tot possible. Cependant, la mise en oeuvre du programme dans ce domaine par la FAO doit, selon nous, se faire avec une certaine prudence en fonction de l'évaluation des résultats obtenus, - et l'évaluation est importante dans cette matière - et en fonction aussi de l'efficacité des mesures qui sont à prendre et qui seront prises au niveau de chaque pays par les gouvernement s.
Malgré cette note qui vous paraîtra peut-être pessimiste, ma délégation est en mesure d'approuver le rapport du COAG et fait sienne, notamment, la proposition de l'ordre du jour de la prochaine session.
H. JASIOROWSKI (Poland): Mr. Chairman, I have adjusted my statement to the fact that the hour is late and that many delegates have already spoken so I wish to limit my intervention on COAG activities and its sixth meeting to general and short remarks. I wish to raise four points or items.
The first is that the Polish delegation supports the Committee on Agriculture activities, considers it is a central committee within FAO activities and considers the activities of this Committee as very useful for Member countries.
Secondly, we consider the. subjects chosen for the sixth COAG session as right, and we agree with the recommendations.
As a third point I would like to raise that for the future meetings of COAG, we support the chosen items, mainly the subjects of plant protection, animal health and the followup of the World Conference on Agricultural Reform and Rural Development and especially on the role of women.
We particularly support the suggestion to discuss animal health in future COAG meetings. We consider the activities in the field of animal health of this Organization to be one of the most successful, and I think that I may say so because although I am not a veterinarian myself, I am calling myself an animal scientist, and as you know, it is always thought that what the veterinarians consider right, the animal scientists consider wrong and vice versa. And in saying so I think that I may say once again that the Polish delegation considers the activities within the animal health service of this Organization as very successful, but despite the encouraging progress made, there are still deficiencies in veterinary infrastructures of many developing countries. Strengthening of national and regional veterinary structures for the control of animal diseases, including laboratory and field services as well as educational and training programmes are considered essential to reduce economic losses which amount to over 30 percent of the total value of animal production in the world. Trypanosomiasis, rinderpest and African swine fever are just a few examples of major economic importance which annually claim a heavy toll of the livestock and poultry industries. The last outbreaks of African swine fever in Latin America and rinderpest in the Arabian peninsula stress the importance of the FAO activities in the world. Therefore, we strongly support the COAG reviews, the actions taken by FAO and its Member Nations in animal health and discussing strategies for more effective control of animal diseases.
Fourthly, I wish to say that for future COAG work, in our opinion it would be worthwhile to consider the following points: first of all, we think it is imperative for the successful work of the Committee on Agriculture not to duplicate the activities of other FAO bodies and other committees, and we have many of such bodies and committees which could be easily duplicated by the Committee on Agriculture, and we think that one of the most important ways to avoid duplication is to keep the Committee on Agriculture as a highly competent forum technically and from the subject matter point of view. We think that in this committee, mainly technical and economic matters should be discussed, and that technical and not diplomatic language should be used. It concerns discussion and it concerns the report on the deliberations of the COAG meeting. I think that in saying so, I may stress that it is very important that the documents prepared by the Secretariat for the COAG meetings should be of a different type than for the other meetings. I raise this especially because I found in the report some remarks which may state otherwise. For example, on page 2 which was already mentioned by the United States, I quote from this report: "The Committee expressed satisfaction with the format and contents of the background document as well as the Addendum. ... It suggested, however, that it would be helpful in future to have a more precise evaluation of the success of the implementation of programme activities and of the constraints and problems encountered which had militated against the realization of anticipated objectives."
Secondly, in paragraph 11 on the same page; "The Committee suggested that in future sessions COAG should be informed of overall major developments in the field of agriculture since its preceding session. The Committee noted, however, that in view of the Secretariat this was a matter relating to the'State of Food and Agriculture' and the 'Commodity Review and Outlook' and that these publications could take the Committee's suggestion into account." I simply wish not to agree with this statement. I think that the Committee on Agriculture is the forum where the major developments in the field of agriculture should be discussed, and they should be discussed in a different way than they are presented in the State of Food and Agriculture and,in the Committee Review and Outlook.
Secondly, I think it is very important to keep the Committee on Agriculture on as high a technical and subject matter level as possible. It is important that countries should send to this Committee people who are highly competent in the subject matters which are going to be discussed during the Committee meetings. Only in such case do we think that COAG will achieve its goal and will serve for the benefit of this Organization and the Member countries.
J. TCHICAYA (Congo): Ma délégation voudrait d'abord féliciter le Comité de l'agriculture qui s'est attaché à mettre en exergue dans le document CL 79/9 soumis à notre examen les points essentiels de l'agriculture et du développement, de la production et pour la présentation qu'en a faite son Président M. Aidara, représentant du Sénégal. Tout d'abord, nous exprimons notre reconnaissamce à la FAO pour son effort accru dans l'exécution du Programme de travail, dans le domaine de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture. Cependant, nous apportons notre appui aux suggestions faites à ce sujet par le Comité. Je ne voudrais plus revenir sur certains aspects qui ont fait l'objet de mes précédents interventions, à savoir que face l'insuffisance de la production agricole et alimentaire tous les moyens devront être mis en oeuvre pour accroître la productivité des terres cultivables.
A cet effet, le Programme "Engrais" de la FAO devra être développé et recevoir tout l'appui nécessaire pour lui donner des moyens appropriés afin d'intervenir efficacement auprès des paysans les plus pauvres. En effet, il existe encore sur notre planète des régions entières qui ne connaissent pas encore l'utilisation des engrais chimiques. Or, nous savons que ces engrais associés aux amendements organiques sont seuls susceptibles d'accroître de manière substantielle la production. Parlant des amendements organiques, ma délégation souhaiterait qu'un programme identique à celui des engrais chimique soit mis au point pour développer l'utilisation des engrais verts et du compost qui demandent, somme toute, des investissements peu coûteux.
Rappelons que les engrais chimiques et organiques ne peuvent donner le maximum de résultats que s'ils sont associés à l'utlisation de matières végétales de haut rendement sélectionnées afin de supporter les programmes de production. Mais nul n'ignore que les faibles récoltes des paysans font très souvent l'objet d'attaques diverses et subissent de ce fait de graves pertes. Nous voyons toute l'importance que le Conseil doit attacher à la réalisation et à la poursuite du programme des pertes après récolte qui ont pour but de minimiser le taux de pertes des produits agricoles après leur récolte.
Au cours de l'examen du sommaire du Programme de travail et du budget nous avions déjà évoqué la tâche que la FAO devra demain, plus qu'hier, mettre sur certaines cultures comme le plantin, le manioc, les autres tubercules et arachides dont l'intérêt pour certaines populations est connu de tous. Cet intérêt devra porter non seulement sur leur production, notamment la recherche sur le matériel végétal, mais aussi sur leur conservation ainsi que leur transformation.
Avant d'aborder les problèmes qui accablent les zones tropicales, nous pensons que la FAO doit accroître son intérêt dans le développement des légumineuses qui présentent le double avantage d'être excellent pour les pâturages mais aussi un fixateur d'azote susceptible de servir comme engrais vert. De plus, le Programme d'eradication de la trypanosomiase doit continuer à recevoir de la FAO la plus haute priorité, pour certains facteurs limitants de l'élevage dans certaines zones tropicales où les protéines font défaut. Ma délégation propose'que la FAO aide les pays membres à dresser les cartes des sols pour permettre d'utiliser certaines ressources naturellles dont l'importance est vitale dans le réseau des problèmes alimentaires et agricoles. Nous appuyons également l'intégration de l'élément "nutrition" dans les projets nationaux relatifs à l'agriculture. La conservation des sols requiert notre assentiment avec, pour but, l'élimination de la culture itinérante. Nous sommes d'accord avec le Comité pour estimer qu'un accent devra être mis en vue de développer les ressources renouvelables d'énergie. Enfin, la Journée de la septième réunion du Comité n'appelle aucun commentaire et bénéficie de notre appui.
J.A. GUEVARA MORAN (El Salvador): En primer lugar, nuestra delegación quiere felicitar al Presidente del Comité de Agricultura por la excelente introducción que desarrollo a finales de esta mañana, y además por el magnífico documento que nos ha presentado. En virtud de que nuestra delegación participó activamente en este Comité en términos generales nuestro país apoya el contenido de este documento. Pero se permite también hacer algunos señalamientos de tipo general.
Primeramente, queremos hacer referencia a la observación que las delegaciones de varios países han hecho esta tarde, y que creemos es sumamente justificada. Me refiero a la observación que inició el Excelentísimo delegado del Reino Unido, apoyado por el Excelentísimo delegado de Francia y el Excelentísimo delegado de Polonia. Ellos han señalado la conveniencia de que en COAG los países tenemos que hacernos representar con personal altamente capacitado. Queremos expresar que por nuestra parte, hemos tomado debida nota. Además, el distinguido representante del Reino Unido manifestaba algo con lo que nuestra delegación también está de acuerdo. El decía que muchos de los programas reseñados aquí en este Informe, aparecen en una forma demasiado genérica, demasiado general y que era necesario explicitarlos.
Nuestra delegación apoya esa observación. Por nuestra parte, queremos referirnos brevemente a los aspectos siguientes: Nos parece que en cuanto a recursos naturales debería de ampliarse el concepto y los programas, y en lugar de hablar de conservación de suelos y agua, deberíamos de hablar de conservación de recursos naturales. ¿Por qué decimos esto? Recordamos que en nuestro país, por ejemplo, para citar solamente un ejemplo, allá por la década, a mediados del cuarenta, el doctor William Vogt llevó un programa amplio de concientización hacia la conservación de los recursos naturales, e incluso dejó publicado un libro referente a la conservación de los recursos naturales en nuestro país. Desde aquellas épocas, ya se hacía ver a la humanidad que los recursos naturales son un conjunto inter-actuante como los dedos de la mano, en el sentido de que si a una mano le hace falta un dedo, es una mano impedida;y en un ecosistema cualquiera de los recursos que falte en el análisis, es un análisis impedido. Por esa razón, con mucho respeto, aunque se le dé énfasis, por razones de que la agricultura usa básicamente, en su forma de trabajo fundamentalmente el suelo y el agua, no hay que olvidarse de que los demás recursos, como lo decíamos antes, son interactuantes, o sea, se auxilian o afectan mutuamente. Por esa razón, con todo respeto, deseábamos señalar estos asuntos.
Nuestra delegación también apoya el Mapa de Suelos y sugiere que en lo posible se trabaje en una escala bastante amplificada. ¿Por qué decimos esto? Nuestro país apenas tiene 21 000 kilómetros cuadrados en el continente, y si la escala es demasiado reducida, pues en un mapa de tipo mundial es apenas un punto.
Por otro lado, pensamos que la FAO debe de enfatizar en coordinación con otras agencias especializadas de la familia de las Naciones Unidas, el uso múltiple de los recursos naturales. Estamos hablando de energía, estamos hablando de agricultura y lamentablemente en nuestros países, todavía en muchos de ellos no hacemos un uso múltiple de los recursos naturales. Por ejemplo, en mi país todavía estamos efectuando grandísimas inversiones a nivel nuestro, a nivel de nuestro país son grandísimas inversiones, y estamos viendo, por ejemplo, la construcción de presas hidroeléctricas exclusivamente con un uso único, producir, generar energía hidroeléctrica; cuando en países desarrollados, cuando se hace una obra de esta magnitud, se planea con una gran anticipación y cuando se ejecuta se está seguro de que por lo menos tiene tres usos no alternos, sino simultáneos. Alternos puede tener muchos más. . Creemos que eso ayudaría muchísimo en la economía de los países subdesarrollados.
Apoyamos fuertemente el tema de la energía en relación con la agricultura y el desarrollo rural. Creemos que estos temas también son concomitantes: el de la conservación de los recursos naturales y el de la energía en relación con la agricultura y el desarrollo rural. ¿Por qué decimos esto? Lo indicamos porque para el caso de nuestro país, el 90 por ciento de los granos básicos con que se alimenta nuestra población se producen en tierras de estricta vocación forestal; tierras de clase siete siguiendo el sistema americano de, clasificación de tierras.
No podemos de la noche a la mañana transformar esa realidad; con el Programa de Reforma Agraria pretendemos en un plan de perspectiva eliminar al año 2000 ese problema, por lo que en este momento nuestro país tiene el siguiente dilema: se acaba, de terminar un estudio sobre el balance energético y se comprobó que el 65 por ciento de la energía que se consume en el país es leña. Y precisamente esa es la causa o el efecto, quizá mejor dicho, del por qué en nuestro país ya no hay bosques. El campesino ha tenido necesidad de fabricarse sus alimentos y ha recurrido al árbol que ve más cercano.
Por esa razón, también creemos que la FAO, en coordinación con otras agencias especializadas de la familia de las Naciones Unidas, debe de propender porque en todos nuestros países subdesarrollados se enseñe conservación de recursos naturales desde el kinder garden hasta la enseñanza universitaria. Porque es triste señalarlo, pero por ejemplo, en nuestro país no se enseña conservación de recursos naturales, y los ingenieros agrónomos salimos de la universidad sin saber qué significa eso. Ya no digamos profesionales de otras ramas del saber, de la ciencia y de la técnica.
Por otro lado, queremos sugerir que la FAO diseñe programas de diversificación agrícola, de diversificación de la producción agrícola. Tenemos el dilema muchos países que desde hace muchos años, se nos ha condicionado a depender de unos pocos productos de exportación. Por ejemplo, me pregunto en esta coyuntura del café, nosotros no podemos eliminar una plantación de café. Se puede hacer en una plantación si es anual e incluso si es una plantación semipermanente, como es el caso de la caña. Es más fácil irla sustituyendo paulatinamente que en el caso del café. Por ejemplo, en nuestro país, también tiene ciertas caracterizaciones, y el café no sólo ha sido el principal producto de exportación, no solamente ha sido el principal producto en la balanza comercial, en la balanza de pagos de nuestro país, sino que ha sido el cultivo que dadas las características de cómo se trabaja, ha generado grandes cantidades de empleo y también los pocos bosques; dado que el café en mi país fundamentalmente se cultiva bajo sombra en su inmensa mayoría, ha constituido bosques y sotobosques. Con la sombra es bosque un poco ralo y el cafetal un sotobosque bastante denso.
El último punto a que quería referirme es al control integrado de plagas y enfermedades. Creo que no sólo con esto pudiéramos ahorrar en la fuga de divisas y también en productos, y al igual que la sugerencia que ya se hizo de los fertilizantes orgánicos, quisiéramos sugerir que nuestra organización desea trabaje en un programa de control integrado de plagas en la agricultura.
A. F. M. DE FREITAS (Brazil): I would like to congratulate Mr. Aidara for the introduction he gave us this morning, and also for his excellent performance as the Chairman of COAG. As a member of the Programme Committee, and the Committee on Agriculture, my delegation had different opportunities of expressing itself on the topics contained in the document now under consideration.
On this occasion I would like to stress some of the points in the document which my delegation believed to be of particular relevance.
First, I would wish to comment briefly on the question of nutrition in agricultural development. My delegation feels the effect of efforts to include the concern about nutrition in the projects being developed by FAO have a beneficial and far-reaching effect in the action undertaken by the Organization in the field itself. We also agree FAO should share its experience with other United Nations Agencies involved in other projects of a different nature so as to facilitate the inclusion of nutrition and other socio-economic efforts.
The same could be followed by Member Nations in their development plans.
On this same line, my delegation thinks the participation of rural women and men in the implementation and evaluation of projects, particularly those related to nutrition, should be encouraged.
My delegation supports the recommendations contained in paragraph 136 of the report, even regarding Section II concerning the initiatives to be taken by FAO to organize expanded consultation with international agencies and international institutions.
We believe attention should be paid to the efforts made by the Director-General to reduce the number of meetings in the Organization. Perhaps meetings called for other purposes could have included in their agendas this kind of discussion, instead of calling meetings specially to this end.
Coming now to another point upon which my delegation wishes to comment, we touch on the very important question of soil and water conservation. We entirely agree with the urgent need to create a universal awareness of this problem, particularly because the main responsibility rests with national governments. We support the effort to gather more information and to increase research on this subject. We also wish to express our support for an inter-disciplinary approach to this question and we agree with the emphasis to be put on training.
My delegation commends FAO for the work done in the preparation of a World Soil Charter and my country is proud of its part in the general effort to update the Charter.
Coming now to the question of energy in agriculture and rural development, my delegation would like to state again its full support for the emphasis given to the problem of the conservation of energy, energy-efficient practices, techniques and systems. My country sees the development of alternative sources of energy as an unavoidable decision to be faced by the international community. The transition from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy is already taking place before our eyes and we see a role for FAO in this area. We support technical assistance being provided by FAO in this field. We share the concern expressed by the delegations of Kenya, the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada regarding the danger of competition between agriculture for food and agriculture for energy. For its part, Brazil is very much aware of this problem and has been taking all the necessary steps to keep the high balance between both of them.
On the other hand, my country has undertaken a very serious effort to expand its agricultural frontier so as to be able to increase its possibilities to produce more both food and energy.
Finally, I would like to express the agreement of my delegation with the efforts to coordinate the energy-related components on the work of COAG, COFO and COFI.
Y. A. HANDI (Egypt) (interpretation from Arabic): I do share in the congratulations that have been expressed to Mr. Aidara for the outstanding and efficient way in which he chaired the Sixth Session of the Coranittee on Agriculture. My country took part in the debate of that session and we gave full support to the projects drawn up by FAO for the purpose of increasing agricultural production and consequently constitute a contribution to the fight against hunger and malnutrition. We wish to reiterate our full support for the activities in the medium and long term programme implemented by the Department of Agriculture in FAO, and as an example we wish to emphasize the introduction of nutrition in rural development programmes as well as the followup to the activities of WCARRD as well as the importance of water and soil conservation and in particular also a more rational use to be made of organic fertilizers, mainly nitrogen.
My delegation is also delighted at the interest shown in new energy sources and projects for them.
In conclusion, we wish to express our support of projects for training, research and extension work. We think that these constitute the most important elements for providing technology to developing countries and that they will continue to contribute to agricultural production.
ABDUL WAHID bin JALIL (Malaysia): The Malaysian delegation would like to associate itself with other members in complimenting the Secretariat on having completed an excellent and detailed report of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture for discussion, and to thank the Chairman of COAG for his brilliant introduction of the topic. Document CL 79/9 which we have before us covers a wide range of topics included under the major item of agriculture and indicates the efforts made by FAO to fulfill the needs of developing countries in order to hasten agricultural development. We have no problem in following the developments of the Programme of Work of both Departments, the Department of Agriculture and that for Economic and Social Policy. We have noted the detailed account of the many factors that have influenced the performance of the programme and projects and the steps that will have to be taken in the future to improve the various work programmes of the Departments. Generally we are satisfied with the progress made and the steps taken by the Departments in the implementation of the Programme of Work. However, my delegation would like to make some general comments on this agenda item.
The Secretariat has tried to spell out and implement within the available resources those programmes and projects that are useful to help achieve the goals and objectives of alleviating hunger and raising the standards of living of the rural poor. Since FAO is facing constraints in resources in the implementation of its programme, we must ensure that projects are properly planned and formulated so as to provide maximum benefit. In the process of project implementation, proper evaluation must be undertaken to determine whether the objectives are achieved. Only by knowing the problems and
constraints shall we be able to suggest the appropriate solutions. The Malaysian delegation hopes that FAO will in future be able to present not only a descriptive report of the work programme but also include, wherever possible, the effects and impact of such programmes on target groups. The policy implication of such programmes should also be highlighted, indicating whether or not similar experiences could be applied in other countries.
The importance of training has already been highlighted in almost every committee session within the framework of FAO activities. It is of paramount importance, if our experience, our knowledge and technologies are to be translated into action programmes, that appropriate training programmes must be provided for both planners and administrators- on the one hand, as well as for the target groups on the other. We are therefore happy to note that training programmes have been included in almost all the sub-programmes in agriculture. However, in the implementation of any training programmes, FAO should utilize the vast experience it has gathered through its field programmes and adjust this experience to the capacities and resources available in the countries where the training is to be conducted. The use of heavily theoretical and sophisticated techniques should be minimized in favour of a more practical and problem-oriented training programme, in keeping with the needs and capabilities of developing countries. These principles should not only be applied to training programmes but also to other programmes involving new and sophisticated techniques. Utilization of national institutions, expertise and resources by FAO in carrying out training programmes would receive our full support.
Every possible effort has already been made to increase food production. Appropriate programmes and strategies have been and will continue to be formulated on the use of natural resources, crops and livestock research and also various techniques have been incorporated in the farming activities to increase productivity. However, a great deal of these efforts will be wasted if measures are not taken to reduce and improve pre- and post-harvest losses. Natural disasters aside, the world is experiencing a significant loss of its food items as a result of poor post-harvest handling. The importance of applying integrated pest control measures in crop production necessary to reduce post-harvest losses, is recognized and we commend FAO for the work done in these fields. Work on post-harvest losses has been given priority in the past and many projects in this field have been carried out. We hope FAO will be able to extend the experience gathered in these for the benefit of Member Countries, particularly the developing ones.
In spite of progress made in agricultural development, and the fact that various programmes and projects have been implemented, involving vast sums of money and technology, problems of hunger and malnutrition continue to persist. We also recognize that the nutrition programme contributes in no small measure to the improvement of the quality of life of the rural poor. There is merit, therefore, in including nutrition considerations in all rural development programmes.
I now turn to WCARRD. WCARRD's Programme of Action has brought about high expectations among developing countries in the effort to eradicate rural poverty. Considering the multi-dimensional nature of this endeavour, it may not be possible for the Programme to achieve any meaningful progress unless the declaration of principle can be translated into action programmes which the rural poor can appreciate and benefit from. Until more experience is obtained in this field it would be better for us to concentrate on implementing modest but concrete programmes within fast time frames.
In conclusion, as resources for agricultural development continue to be depleted and inputs for production continue to become scarce and expensive, and more and more mouths to feed continue to increase at an alarming rate, there is no other way but to develop systems for optimum utilization of inputs and maximization of outputs involved in food production. Activities identified and proposed in the reports of the Committee on Agriculture provide some of the means to achieve this.
Much has to be done and will have to be done quickly. While we look forward to FAO and other international agencies for guidance and assistance, we in the developing countries will have to play the role for concerted action to accelerate food production and ensure overall food security.
CHAIRMAN: This brings to an end the list of members who had asked for the floor. Because of the lateness of the hour I shall ask the Observers to submit their comments in writing to the Secretariat for inclusion in our records.
D.F.R. BOMMER (Assistant Director-General, Agriculture Department): I think the main questions which have been raised in the discussion are the agenda and timing of COAG. That will be answered by Mr. West. I merely wish to refer here briefly to the one question which was echoed by most delegations from Latin America, as I understand it, on FAO establishing an international gene bank. I think certainly this question is being put forward to the International Board of Plant Genetic Resources so that better explanation might be provided to members of the Council as to how the programme is intended to be developed over the coming years.
But as expressed by the members who spoke, I felt that there was some kind of misconception in a way that there was a belief that this could be done without any additional resources. If a genetic resources centre like the Genetic Resources Centre at Font Collin, Colorado were to be set up in Rome to serve all countries of the world, there would be considerable expense involved, including expense of multiplication of material but if such an effort is being extended as we intend it at the moment, in exchange in between existing centres in the world, in the regional, national and international field, then I think we work on a possible and manageable scale which still allows free exchange of germ plasma in the world. But that information we are willing to supply in the form of a study, as requested.
There was only one point which I was concerned with made by the delegate from Pakistan in which I think the text has created some misunderstanding. I think neither COAG nor anyone else here in the Secretariat had believed to tell countries now to go from modern varieties in cereals back to primitive varieties. The meaning of the text in here is that for the future we must incorporate much more the indigenous materials which are now being collected through plants and genetic resources work in improved varieties because we are running out of genes which provide, what you said yourself, the necessary adaptation to adverse soil conditions, adverse weather conditions, disease problems, etc. This is the meaning and your other point is well taken too; you are very happy to be in a country in which cereals can be grown very successfully. But certainly we have other countries in which we have to foster much more roots and tuber crops because cereals are much less favourable to be grown there in the humid tropics. This is the meaning of the text.
E.M. WEST (Assistant Director-General, Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation): As I see it there is a dilemma facing COAG and the Council. If COAG wishes to consider the Summary Programme of Work and Budget it has to meet in the Conference year and it can't meet before sometime in March. If it wishes to go into in-depthevaluation of the Programme, then it cannot have the evaluation document until later in the year and would really have to do it in a non-Conference year. Therefore, if it wishes to base a view of the Programmes of the Organization on in-depth evaluation, and therefore that way have an impact on the formulation on future programmes of work then it has to meet in a non-Conference year and it has to give up studying the Summary Programme of Work and Budget in the Conference year. The point being that two meetings would be extremely expensive. I think a full meeting of COAG costs about a quarter of a million dollars. So that is the dilemma.
There is a half-way house which can be considered for the next time and that is as was suggested, to chose one or two subjects and to ask for an in-depth evaluation to be provided on those subjects when COAG meets at the time it considers the Summary of Work and Budget, so an in-depth evaluation on the special subjects and on that basis something could be done. If after you have considered the Review of the Regular Programme in the Conference you feel we are moving on the right lines in that document in considering that topic in the general programme.
We could follow-up on COAG in the same way on selected topics. So there are two choices: non-Conference year evaluation of Regular Programme not the Summary Programme of Work and Budget, or Conference year, consideration of Summary Budget plus some in-depth topics from selected ones, presumably the one you are going to study anyway. I think this is a matter which requires consideration between now and the Conference.
S. AIDARA (President du Comité d'agriculture): Après les commentaires détaillés du secrétariat, je n'ai pas grand'chose à ajouter. Je voudrais simplement me féliciter pour l'appui général qui a été apporté au rapport de la sixième session du Comité de l'agriculture, et plus particulièrement aux recommandations générales et à la Charte mondiale des sols que ce rapport contient.
Cet appui confirme une fois de plus l'importance du Comité de l'agriculture. Je suis persuadé que le secrétariat tiendra en compte les observations qui on été faites par le Conseil et je voudrais saisir cette occasion pour remercier toutes les délégation pour leur participation à ce débat et pour les aimables paroles qu'elles m'ont adressées. C'est un honneur qui, à travers ma modeste personne, va à mon pays, et pour cela je voudrais leur dire combien je leur suis reconnaissant.
F. MARTINEZ GOMEZ (México): Disculpe, señor Presidente, que hagamos uso de la palabra a esta altura dela tarde; sin embargo, quisiéramos algunas aclaraciones con respecto a la respuesta que nos diera elseñor Bommer en lo relativo a la propuesta hecha por nuestra delegación en el sentido de llevar a caboun estudio para evaluar la posibilidad de establecer un banco de germoplasma con sede en la FAO.
Sentimos, señor Presidente, que la intención.nuestra, como señalase el señor Bommer, está encaminada no necesariamente a un programa que involucrara, o involucrase un alto monto de recursos. Se trata en sí de un hecho que es la razón de la inexistencia de una legislación que asegure el intercambio de estos recursos genéticos entre los miembros de la Comunidad internacional. Esta propuesta está encaminada en principio a elaborar un estudio para que los miembros del Consejo tengamos un poco más de claridad en este aspecto y podamos tomar una decision al respecto.
G. VASTA (Observateur pour l'Organisation de coopération et de développement économique): Je ne pourraismanquer de féliciter M. Aidara, Président du Comité de l'agriculture, pour l'intéressante présentationdu rapport de la sixième session du COAG qu'il a faite avec la clarté et la compétence qui lui sontpropres.
J'au eu le plaisir de participer à cette session du Comité de l'agriculture et j'ai pu constater un indiscutable progrès et un excellent sens de qualité dans ses travaux. Sans doute les sacrifices du Secrétariat dans la préparation d'excellents documents et la sagesse, la compétence et le savoir-faire du Président ont beaucoup aidé le Comité à s'exprimer très ouvertement au cours de débats qui se sont déroulés dans une atmosphère très cordiale et sympathique.
Tout en marquant l'intérêt de l'OCDE pour le programme de travail du COAG, en ce qui concerne en particulier l'énergie, je me suis permis de porter à la connaissance du Comité qu'à l'OCDE on a réalisé très récemment une étude sur l'utilisation de l'énergie en agriculture et qu'une autre étude est en train d'être mise en chantier. Celle-ci concerne, en particulier, l'énergie en agriculture en partant de la biomasse. Il s'agit d'une étude qui traitera des incidences politiques découlant de l'usage de l'énergie en partant de la biomasse.
Comme toujours, la préoccupation des deux organisations internationales, la FAO et l'OCDE, a été celle d'éviter des doubles emplois et d'assurer une coordination et une coopération au niveau des secrétariats.
Je félicite encore une fois le Comité de l'agriculture et son Président pour les réalisations très intéressantes et efficaces mises en lumière à l'occasion de cette sixième session du COAG 1/.
B. SUSSMILCH (European Economic Community): I am referring to the Document CL 79/9 from April 1981 about the report of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Agriculture which took place in Rome from 25th of March to the 3rd of April 1981 which is now presented to the Council for discussion and decision.
The Community appreciated very much that the Secretariat of FAO had once more prepared the respective documents in an objective manner and that the discussions of the implementation of the biennial programme of work and the activities executed during 1979-1980 and those envisaged for 1981, as well as the problems with the medium- and long-term outlook for food and agricultural development were held in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. In our view this session provides a useful exchange of views in an entirely professional atmosphere. At this occasion, the Community would like to underline its interest that the Secretariat of FAO should strengthen the programme of work by giving priority to those projects which might encourage local food production in developing countries in order to reach a better self-sufficiency, greater independence from imports and higher food security in case of emergencies. We further recommend the continuation of agricultural research at both national and international levels and especially to achieve a compatibility between the two research data programmes CARIS (FAO) and AGREP (EC).
As far as the follow up of the Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) is concerned, the Community expresses satisfaction that FAO had actively assumed the responsibilities as the lead agency in the UN system for WCARRD follow up and welcomes the efforts to reorient its own programme of work within available resources in the direction of WCARRD priorities, focussing especially on the needs of the small farmers, rural women, youth and the rural poor.
As far as rural development is concerned, the Community is prepared to continue to assist developing countries in their rural development programmes in the framework of the Lomé Convention and the programmes for non-associated countries. 1/
M. ALHAMBRA RACHMAN (Indonesia) : My delegation welcomes the report of the Committee on Agriculture and we fully appreciate its merits since it covers the whole range of activities in the field of agriculture.
We are in favour with paragraphs 133 and 134 of the report dealing with the training of national staff concerned with the problem of improving food and nutritional standards. In the framework of a more general scope, my country has experienced that the lack of adequately trained local personnel for formulating nutritional policies and plans, for identifying and formulating projects and assuming management thereof, could constitute a bottleneck in the effective implementation of national food strategies. Therefore, greater attention should be given to the education and training of people directly concerned with agriculture and rural development in recognition that rural development strategies can realise their full potential only through the active involvement of rural people at grass roots level.
With respect to the item related to nutrition we wish to comment that policies and programmes which link to production and consumption are essential to achieve a higher level of food self sufficiency. To achieve adequate food availability for all people in developing countries, national plans and strategies must take into account peasants and small farmers giving particular attention to the needs of women producers in particular by promoting a cooperative form of production where appropriate and, if necessary, to direct consumption intervention.
With respect to agricultural policies, my delegation wishes to express our support to para.113 of the report in order to help countries improve their food self reliance. Within the framework of a national food strategy there may be certain areas in which improvements with relatively low investment requirements can yield large returns, often in the short run.
Incentive to producers together with construction and improvement of transport and storage infrastructure, the provision of technological package, the strengthening of input supply and technology oriented shared risk and the rational use of energy and alternate energy sources avoiding negative effects on environment should be actively explored. 1/
CHAIRMAN: Now this concludes our discussion on this particular item and I would like to thank all of you for your patience and cooperation in enabling the Chair to complete this item.
Tomorrow morning M. Tchicaya will be in the Chair. Now I adjourn the meeting till tomorrow at 9.30.
The meeting rose at 18.10 hours
La seance est levée â 18 h 10
Se levanta la sesión a las 18.10 horas
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1/ Texte reçu avec demande d'insertion au procès-verbal.
1/ Statement inserted in the verbatim records on request.
