producers [8]. If agricultural technology is scale
selective, improvement of agricultural technology for
large-scale producers would tend to benefit a limited
number of producers in Colombia, while many pro-
ducers may be injured, both in an absolute and
relative sense, through product price impacts. This
would tend to further skew income distribution
within the farming sector and within the total
economy. The so-called second generation problems
will be of increasing concern to agricultural econo-
mists and others interested in international develop-
ment in South America [14].
No one would seriously argue that a simple redis-
tribution of income would solve economic and social
problems in South America. Yet, the marginal distri-
bution of benefits in developing countries would
appear to be more critical than in a country such as
the U.S. Perhaps, a highly skewed pattern of income
distribution can be altered only at cost of total
product. The evidence oh this point is far from clear,
yet in Latin America the social justice dimension can-
not well be ignored. Would research show that agri-
cultural technical assistance programs have been
regressive in their impact? If distribution and total
product goals are competitive, what combination of
the two is optimum?
There is considerable literature now appearing in
the development field which compares and contrasts
the Mexican and Japanese-Tawian models of agricul-
tural development [13]. It is significant that in the
case of rice, improved technology in Japan has been
widely dispersed among small and large producers,
while in South American countries, productivity
improvements in rice appear to have been largely
restricted to large scale producers under mechanized-
irrigated conditions. In the Japan-Mexico comparison,
are these differences in the physical or human re-
sources or differences in the manner in which agricul-
tural research has been directed?
ʃ Obviously, it is possible that technology is neutral
with respect to scale but that institutional factors,
such as systems of land tenure and pricing of re-
sources and products, tend to skew benefits. Thus, it
lis possible that researchers creating labor saving
technology are reacting to the felt problems of
commercial farmers faced with such a set of factor
prices.
In general, the background and experience of
South American workers tend to be different from
those in North America. This is largely due to the fact
that although education is difficult and expensive to
obtain throughout Colombia, it is particularly diffi-
cult in rural areas. As a consequence of this, univer-
sity students are not from rural areas. Further, some
have suggested that agriculture has not historically
been a prestige profession in Colombia. Hence, many
students may have matriculated in the faculty of
agronomy because they Could not gain admission to
more prestigious faculties such as the faculty of
medicine or law. Whether or not this is, in fact, true,
or whether it is indeed different from the U.S. situa-
tion, is debatable. Nevertheless, one might expect
persons with urban backgrounds to view research
priorities in a somewhat different light than those
Withamoreruralbackground.
The first two international agricultural research
institutes (IRRI and CIMMYT) have shown that
concentrated effort on narrowly defined, mission-
oriented problems can achieve highly significant
research results. Whether the same success will be
achieved by the two newer institutes (CIAT and
ITTA) is yet to be determined. However, it should be
noted that these institutions are not country institu-
tions and are free from many of the limitations and
restraints which plague the development of first class
research competence in individual countries, includ-
ing the U.S. In fact, it has been suggested that the
creation of international center system may lull
developing countries into a sense of complacency
which might inhibit the development of indigenous
country research institutions, ,∏ιere is, however, no
real evidence that this is occurring. It should be clear
that the international institutes are extremely small
relative to research needs in the developing world and
are in no sense a substitute for development of indi-
vidual country research and education competency.
Newteachingprograms
At the time the MASUA-Nebraska agreement with
ICA was finalized, Colombian competence was much
greater in the plant sciences than in the other fields of
agriculture. This was, of course, due to the strong
Rockefeller Foundation emphasis on the plant
sciences. In the teaching area, the nine campuses
offering undergraduate work in agriculture offered
the ingeniero-agronomo degree and two offered a
degree in veterinary medicine. The ingeniero-
agronomo degree has typically been a five year
university degree which might be likened to a degree
in general agriculture in this country but with more
emphasis on the plant sciences. Thus, there were no
programs in animal sciences, and no specialization in
the various other agricultural fields.
As a consequence of the work of the MASUA-
Nebraska mission, work in the animal sciences is now
offered in National University and the veterinary
medicine curricula has been greatly strengthened by
increased emphasis on clinical activities. In addition,
undergraduate programs (careers) in agricultural
economics and agricultural engineering have been
initiated within the National University program. An
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