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ARM AND Q anch F I ULLETIN Vol. 21, N o. 2 February 1966 FA RM K N O W - H O W FO R H U N G R Y W O R L D During the 1965 fiscal year, the U.S. Depart customers for U.S. commodities. In addition ment of Agriculture sent agricultural experts to the 198 agricultural technicians assigned to to 26 countries and planned training programs 48 projects in Latin America, Asia, and Africa for 4,879 agriculturists from 118 nations. The during the 1965 fiscal year, plans are now firm project was part of an effort to help solve the to send more specialists abroad in 1966. problem of world hunger through the use of The USDA points out that two-thirds of the technical help and training. A new USDA world’s people suffer varying degrees of mal agency coordinates this work. The Inter nutrition. The small gains made in food pro national Agricultural Development Service duction in many of the developing countries (IADS) has only 75 employees, but it receives have been quickly absorbed by rapidly-growing assistance from its parent agency, the USDA, populations. Efforts of the USDA are aimed at and from state agricultural colleges, farm or helping these nations to diversify their agri ganizations, cooperatives, private companies, culture and to meet their domestic food needs and other groups. more adequately through increased yields. The IADS carried out a wide variety of tech Thus far, the largest USD A-AID agricultural nical assistance and training projects all over project has been in Brazil, where a 19-man the globe during fiscal 1965. Operating funds team, working with the Brazilian Government, are provided by the Agency for International is advising on problems concerning credit, agri Development (AID), which has overall respon cultural economics, cooperatives and market sibility for foreign aid. ing, price stabilization, soil conservation, and Efforts of USDA technicians have ranged from tsetse fly research in Africa to assistance in setting up a price-support system to encour age India’s 60 million farmers to produce more food. Foreign nationals who come to the United States for training may stay just a few weeks to visit this country’s farms or they may attend U.S. universities for several years and earn advanced degrees. The IADS recognizes that agricultural growth is a key to economic development and political stability in the developing countries and that, as these countries achieve higher levels of economic growth, they become better F E D E R A L R E S E R V E DALLAS, animal-disease control. Just a few years ago, vegetable farmers in El Salvador grew only one meager crop each year. Today, through the help of a USDA-AID resident agricultural team, these people are being taught how to fertilize and irrigate their crops and to market them the year-round through a central farmers’ market. The use of credit, with which to pur chase good seed and fertilizer, is helping to raise the level of living of these subsistence farmers. During 1965, the agency’s Foreign Training Division continued its 20-year tradition of training agriculturists from other nations in the B A N K TEXAS OF D A L L A S United States. The Division plans and coordi nates training for these people —• whose “edu cation” is sponsored by the Agency for Inter national Development, the United Nations, and private companies — and sends them to appro priate places in the United States to learn their particular trades. In addition to receiving tech nical instruction, “participants” are encouraged to become involved in the American commu nity and its varied activities. Cooperating landgrant universities and private companies work together each year to provide foreign trainees with such special programs. For example, a team of 19 agriculturists from India came to the United States in 1965 to study fertilizer technology and use. The group spent 18 weeks with land-grant univer sities, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and manufacturers of fertilizer and equipment. The special course included work on how to disseminate their U.S. training when they re turn to their own countries. A similar course is planned for 1966 and will include 60 men from 10 underdeveloped countries. In another test at the A&M field station, single, double, and triple rows were planted at different seeding rates. All peanut acreages were irrigated. In every case, double rows outyielded single rows, and in 50 percent of the tests, triple rows produced more than double rows. Dr. Harrison says that on multiple-row plant ings, it is best to use a herbicide to control weeds or a rotary hoe in which the teeth mesh. He notes that it costs little more to adapt ma chinery to handle multiple-row crops, but cau tions that the practice will pay only on irri gated peanuts. Prescribed Burning in Texas Forests A survey conducted by the Texas Forest Ser vice shows that the use of prescribed burning in east Texas forests has increased during recent years. Practically all of the burning has been done under the supervision of graduate forest ers, with 80 to 90 percent of the burning pro ducing the desired results. Prescribed burning is a forest management practice that may be defined as the application Results from several peanut ex- of fire to the land, under certain conditions, periments at Texas A&M Uni which will result in a burn that accomplishes specific silvicultural, wildlife, grazing, or fireversity’s Plant Disease Labora tory at Yoakum, Texas, have hazard reduction purposes. One of the benefits been tabulated and released, re of prescribed burning is the prevention of anports Dr. A. L. Harrison, in nosus root rot in susceptible pine stands. Also, charge of the A&M field station. larger quantities of browse and grass, which make forested lands more desirable to lessees A height-of-bed test reveals that of grazing land, are made available. peanut yields rise as the height of the bed increases. In the tests, peanuts were planted Several training sessions on the techniques in a furrow, below ground level, on level of prescribed burning have been held by the ground, on a medium-high bed (3 to 4 inches), Texas Forest Service for private and public and on a high bed (5 to 6 inches). foresters. A demonstration plot is maintained in each of the pine-hardwood counties of east Peanuts planted below the ground yielded Texas. Approximately 30,000 acres of land 3,076 pounds per acre; on level ground, 3,143 were prescription-burned in east Texas during pounds; on a medium bed, 3,362 pounds; and 1964, compared with 23,000 in the previous on a high bed, 3,578 pounds per acre. Dr. Har year. About 95 percent of all burning was rison states that the increase in yield probably done by large landowners, both individual and results from the improved aeration of the soil industrial. and more effective utilization of available mois ture on the higher beds. Moreover, “dirting” of Two-thirds of the burning done thus far has peanuts on level ground or below the ground been to achieve hardwood control. An addi is conducive to disease. tional 29 percent of the prescription burning Higher Beds for Higher Peanut Yields f has been for seedbed preparation; 4 percent, for fire-hazard reduction; and 1 percent, for the improvement of forage for wildlife. to farmers and ranchers in areas where pond seepage reduces water supplies and thus limits or eliminates grazing. Although the cost of prescription burning in Sodium carbonate seals the soil through the Texas averages about 75 cents per acre, the process of ion exchange. Positive-charged so lack of experienced contractors to do the work dium ions become attached to negative-charged seems to be the principal deterrent to small clay particles. The sodium causes the particles landowners. A former hindrance, the lack of to swell when they become wet, and then break firebreak equipment, has been largely offset in apart and fill the pores in the soil. some districts since 1964, when the Texas For The ARS researchers say that additional est Service made equipment and operators study is needed to determine how long sodiumavailable for hire at a nominal charge. treated ponds will retain water. They believe, however, that adding small quantities of sodium Inexpensive Low-Volume carbonate to the pond water periodically will Ground Sprayer prevent the additional calcium ions from in In preliminary tests, boll weevils have been creasing the seepage rate. The ARS says that a controlled through the use of a ground sprayer 1-acre pond can be sealed with sodium carbon that applies insecticide at ultralow rates, ac ate for about $250. The cost of additional cording to Dr. Edwin P. Lloyd, Entomologist treatments would depend upon the rate at with the Agricultural Research Service. The which calcium ions reenter the soil. new sprayer can be assembled from readily Spray-On Insulation available parts for about $200. The low-volume spray technique, which was first developed by the ARS for use with air craft, is regarded as a milestone in safe, eco nomical use of pesticides. By applying less in secticide, farmers not only save time and money but also minimize hazards to livestock, wildlife, and other forms of life. The new sprayer is mounted on a highclearance rig. Basically, it consists of a bank of eight solid-stream nozzles that meter a concen trated insecticide formulation onto eight pairs of rapidly spinning stainless steel discs. The liquid is forced through the nozzles by com pressed air in the container that holds the liquid. Stop Seepage from Stock Ponds! The starch from a single bushel of corn can be used to make enough polyether for an inchthick layer of light-weight foam which, when dry, will insulate the exterior walls of a 50- by 25-foot home, according to the Agricultural Research Service. Starch-based polyether is an industrial raw material that utilizes a major farm commodity. When sprayed in place as a foam — around pipes and between wall stud ding, for example — the product adheres to al most any surface, dries immediately, and forms a rigid layer of insulation that is molded to the contour of the surface. Commercial urethane foams (which made thin-wall refrigerators possible) are now being used for insulating dwellings, buildings, freez ers, and refrigerated trucks and tank cars. Rigid urethane foam is also used for buoyancy in boats, buoys, and life preservers. Commercial production is expected to reach 100 million pounds annually by 1968. Disking sodium carbonate into the soil of western stock ponds that dry up before the end of the grazing season can reduce seepage to less than one-fourth of an inch per day. According A recent study by a commercial firm, under to the Agricultural Research Service, soil sam ples taken from the bottom of treated test ponds contract with the ARS, shows that the starchshowed that sodium carbonate had changed the based polyether can be made for about 15 cents grainy clay soil into nearly water-impermeable per pound in a plant producing 10 million soil. This development is of major importance pounds a year. This volume of polyether would use the starch from 100,000 bushels of corn. The starch-based foam is flame- and humidityresistant, and its strength compares favorably with that of commercially available foams. Successful Operation on Unborn Lambs A method of correcting birth defects in unborn human be ings could be one develop ment of research which is being conducted by a team of scientists from Johns Hop kins University School of Medicine, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the U.S. D epartm ent of Agriculture. The discovery that a lamb fetus can be delivered, operated on, and then returned to the uterus for a normal birth could open the door to an entirely new surgical approach in human and veterinary medicine, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Working at Johns Hopkins University, the scientists have redelivered lamb fetuses several times in various stages of development, treated them medically or surgically, and then returned them to the uterus, with no apparent harm to the fetus. Lambs have then been born in a normal manner at the proper time. Medical re searchers are already at work in an effort to develop similar operating techniques that will correct birth defects in human beings. Discovery of Sweet Potato Enzyme The process of making instant sweet potato flakes has been improved through the discovery of a new enzyme in sweet potatoes, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Industry may also find uses for the enzyme (an alphaamylase) in the preparation of cereals and in fermentation processes; however, USD A chem ists say that more information is needed about the properties of the enzyme, as well as a prac tical method of isolating it in pure form. Only small quantities of the enzyme are found in freshly-dug sweet potatoes, but the amount builds up during storage; consequently, the potatoes can be kept firm during the can ning process only if they are canned shortly after harvest. The enzyme builds up during even short periods of storage and, activated by the heat of processing, helps to convert some of the starch to sugars. This characteristic makes the sweet potatoes too soft for use as a top-quality canned product. Conversely, in the manufacture of instant sweet potato flakes, the alpha-amylase is desirable in the potatoes be cause it helps make them sweeter and softer for processing. Industrial Oil in W ild Plant From Spain A plant that grows wild in southern Spain shows promise as a potential domestic crop for the production of a valuable industrial oil, points out the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Seeds of the plant, Euphorbia lagascae, are rich in epoxy fatty acids, which are now made syn thetically for use in plastics, paints, and other industrial products. These naturally occurring acids were not known to exist until recently, when they were found in another wild plant, Vernonia anthelmintica. Of the thousands of foreign plants that have been screened by utilization scientists of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, E u phorbia and Vernonia are the only ones that have been found to yield significant amounts of epoxy acids. Euphorbia seeds are twice as oil-rich as those of Vernonia. Analyses of Euphorbia seeds re veal that they contain between 40 and 50 per cent oil, and that about 60 percent of this oil is epoxy fatty acids. Although Vernonia oil has a higher epoxy acid content, Euphorbia con tains so much more oil that it appears to be a richer source of the acids. Experimental seedings of Vernonia indicate that the plant should be widely adapted to the Cotton Belt and the southern part of the Corn Belt. Since Euphorbia was test-planted for the first time in 1965, it is too early to p in point the areas where the crop will be best suited, according to the USDA.
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