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A historian and a geographer from the University of Michigan, Professor John W. Hall and Professor George Kish, join Professor Peek and Mr. Ravenholt to discuss the problems of rural Asia. The rural Asiatic situation is summed up simply by saying that in that part of the world there are too many people living on too little land and using primitive methods and equipment. Most of the Asiatic people are living at the subsistence level while many witness starvation yearly. Professor Hall displays pictures he took while in Japan recently to illustrate the primitive buildings that house the Japanese farmer and the outmoded farming methods which these farmers are practicing today.The panel discusses these problems of too little food supply and tremendous population growth. Another problem is the condition of the concentration of land ownership. In the struggle to win this "twilight zone" over to their side, both East and West have social reforms to alleviate this condition. The Soviets offer the idea of collective farming. According to Professor Kish, however, this idea is gradually being replaced by the state ownership plan. The democratic plan, on the other hand, advocates individual ownership of the farm land. In order for this plan to be effective, however, the attitude of the Asiatic farmer must be changed--he must be convinced that he can better himself. Final success, then, depends upon the U.S. exporting skills, techniques and machinery along with financial support to the rural areas of Asia.
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