U.S. farm output, from the 1930s until 1981, increased steadily, but growth stopped in the 1980s. Now, after 9 years of volatility, total farm output is less than it was in 1981. The largest decline occurred in the production of grains and oil crops such as soybeans. This stagnation of the 1980s...

A number of agricultural resource, environmental and health concerns will condition the capacity of the agricultural sector in both developed and developing countries to increase production in the coming century. These concerns give rise to four generic issues: (a) Many of the issues are...