AGRICULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 280, 21 August 1940, Page 11

AGRICULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND

War And Post-War Problems NEED FOR RESEARCH AND PLANNING “It looks as if we will have a new economic order of some kind after the war. I am no money theorist, but we cannot imagine how the debts are to he .paid after this war. However, we arc producing what people cannot do without—food and clothing, not grand pianos. It appeal's to me that we should continue with our research and education in agricultural development. ' This view was expressed by Mr. G. 11. Ilolford, B.Agric.'Sc„ speaking on “Fundamental Considerations for an Agricultural Policy” last evening in the second address of a series on New Zealand’s war economy, arranged by the Wellington branch of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Ilolford expressed the view that the country should start thinking now of the problems that lay ahead. People said the country should do this and do that., but when one started changes one found there was great need for integrallug one thing with another. During the depression it was said the world suffered more from over prediction than over production, he said, yet it was wise to do some thinking and planning, though people might not know exactly what was ahead. Soil Erosion. A fundamental consideration was the preservation of desirable areas of land in the Dominion. New Zealand bird not yet done a great deal about tackling the problem of soil erosion. A country that lost its soil was likely to lose its soul and its life. Consideration should also be paid to the preservation of the fertility of the soil. The amount of good land was small, relatively. Without phosphate a lot of the country would become a rabbit warren. There was further, the question of getting the maximum out of our crops. At present it looked as if the Dominion was going to have an all-time high, in regard to both the value and the volume of Rs exports, and 95 per cent, of it was from pastoral products. Our life-blood was not red, it was green —green grass. Of our 33,000,000 acres of grass lands about two-thirds bad been sown by man. The speaker said he did not think that anyone who knew New Zealand would believe that it was anywhere near its maximum production. There was no doubt we could substantially expand our primary .production if necessary—by drainage, irrigation, and bringing in more land. Shadow of Restrictions.

The shadows of restrictions on our exports had started to fall about eight years ago. A 'three per cent, reduction on mutton and lamb had. been imposed last year but not implemented. The war came along and restrictions did not eventuate.

The British Government had begun to take a new interest in agriculture. In 1937 Britain was in the position of having 5,000,000 more people to feed than in 1914, with half a million fewer men on the land. A land fertility campaign had been opened and Britain s wartime policy was to grow the maximum quantity of human and live stock foods she could. The British Government had also said it was not going to let British agriculture down as it was let down after the last war. All these things were important when considering the future of New Zealand agriculture. Then there was the competition of artificial goods and fibres. Margarine was again rapidly entrenching itself at a price about half that of butter. Some day there might be synthetic milk and the cow as the mother of humanity might have to go. Possibly New Zealand would have to intensify her efforts to lower costs, fight diseases and improve production.