Hill land farming, an international dimension

THIS PAPER EMPHASIZES NEW TECHNICAL INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP SAVE HILLSIDES AND VALLEY LANDS FROM BEING RENDERED INCAPABLE OF GROWING FUTURE CROPS. FIVE POLICY IMPLICATIONS BASED ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ARE OFFERED: (1) IF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK EXISTED TO ASSURE A TENANT WHO INVESTS IN TERRACES OR FORESTS THAT HE COULD RETAIN THE LAND FOR THE NUMBER OF YEARS REQUIRED TO ATTAIN A REASONABLE RATE OF RETURN, HE MIGHT INVEST IN SOIL-PRESERVING MEASURES; (2) IF HILLSIDE SQUATTERS" TENURE RIGHTS COULD BE MADE SECURE, THEY WOULD BE MORE APT TO ATTEMPT CONSERVATION PRACTICES; (3) IF HILLSIDE-FARMER ORGANIZATIONS WERE SET UP AND INCENTIVES PROVIDED, GRASS-ROOTS LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL COULD BE DEVELOPED; (4) IF SOIL CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES WERE MADE AVAILABLE AND EMPHASIZED IN A PACKAGE OF FOLLOW-UP INPUTS TO LAND REFORM, STEEPER GRADIENTS MIGHT BE SAVED; (5) IF ZONING PROCEDURES COULD BE SET UP SO THAT INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS WOULD HAVE TO USE UNPRODUCTIVE HILLSIDES, WITH BASINS RESERVED FOR AGRICULTURE, THERE WOULD BE MORE TIME TO ALLOW FOR CURTAILMENT OF THE RAPID RISE IN POPULATION. IN MANY COUNTRIES, LAND DETERIORATION WILL NOT HALT UNTIL GOVERNMENTS MAKE BASIC CHANGES IN LAND TENURE LAWS AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC PRIORITIES.