Abstract
IN devoting a session on August 22 to problems of crop production, Section M (Agriculture) was dealing with one broad aspect of a wider question-the place of science in the advancement of British agriculture. More than simple efficiency of production is implied by advancement. It means also the development and extension of farming to the fullest economic degree and, if demonstrably necessary in the national interest, to a degree beyond the limit set by financial economics. Now advancement in the industry at large, like success on the individual farm, is dependent first on policy and next on technical farming efficiency. Science can promote efficiency both by providing new knowledge and by helping farmers to make the best use of existing knowledge ; that is, by research and by education. It must have been in the minds of those who listened to this discussion to ask whether science's contribution must be limited to technical efficiency or whether it might not have a part in making national agricultural policy. Views put forward at an earlier session, when employment on the land was discussed, plainly inclined to the idea that in applying itself to agriculture, science must take national policy as it finds it and be content to work within its limitations. But ever since the end of the Great War, protagonists, some scientific, some lay, have claimed for science a strong share in. government, including the shaping of policy. It may be regretted that, when discussing the part of science in agricultural advancement, the Section did not boldly debate the question what part, if any, science could take in shaping agricultural policy.
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British Association Discussions: Problems of Crop Production. Nature 142, 527–529 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142527a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142527a0
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