Reply to the report by the OECD Committee for Agriculture on the interrelationships between income and supply problems in agriculture
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26th January 1966 (21st Sitting) (see Doc. 2022,Doc. 2022, report of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26th January 1966 (21st Sitting).
1. Referring to that part of its
Resolution 296 of 6th May 1965 which relates to agriculture, the Assembly thanks OECD for the transmission of the report on the interrelationships between income and supply problems in agriculture established by the OECD Committee for Agriculture ; it considers this to be an important and logical complement to the earlier report on low incomes in agriculture in so far as it rounds off the argument in favour of an accelerated adaptation of agrarian structures in order to raise the average standard of living of the farming population.
2. Considering that the process of structural adaptation is generally only beginning to gain momentum and that this process is lagging behind the rate at which technical means of expanding production are developed, the Assembly wishes to stress the need for Governments, in their structural policies, to aim at agrarian structures which would meet with long-term economic and technological requirements, while bearing in mind the importance of parallel educational endeavours.
3. Considering that the average age of farm operators, already comparatively high, continues to rise, the Assembly believes that structural adaptation should be combined with measures aimed at inducing the younger generation actively to take part in farm management, while simultaneously bringing relief to elderly farmers.
4. The Assembly hopes that OECD, in line with its general policy of economic growth and development, will place due emphasis on the possibilities inherent in regional planning when carrying out its intended study of structural reform measures ; in particular, the Assembly stresses the need for creating the social environment in which the desired adaptation can take place smoothly.
5. Considering that the price mechanism should play a greater role in solving the "economic problems of market regulation and allocation of productive resources as between agriculture and the other sectors, and also within agriculture itself" (paragraph 207), the Assembly emphasises that agriculture should be so adapted as to permit the price mechanism to function not only at national level, but also internationally ; it believes that this requires a concerted international approach.
