Council

The 20th session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization was held in Rome from September 27 through October 8, 1954, under the chairmanship of Mr. G. Ugo Papi (Italy). The Council considered various aspects of the world food situation and heard an oral report by the Director-General (Cardon) on the 1953–1954 crop year and prospects for 1954–1955. Mr. Cardon reported that, while agricultural production in the world as a whole had increased at a pace faster than the rate of population increase, the increase had been uneven, both in terms of geographical distribution and in terms of crops and commodities produced. The situation had now been reached, Mr. Cardon observed, where the need to expand agriculture existed in one part of the world while serious surpluses existed elsewhere. Another disturbing feature, Mr. Cardon noted, was that the somewhat eased problem of surpluses of some commodities had resulted from decreased production rather than increased consumption. The over-all stability of the price of agricultural products had been a striking feature of the past year, Mr. Cardon added, resulting mainly from the fact that the main surplus stocks were under government control and had not been unloaded in an uncoordinated way on the world market. One serious problem which Mr. Cardon pointed out was that, while the wholesale price had followed the international price closely, retail prices had been rigid. Mr. Cardon emphasized that in order for the benefits of programs for agricultural efficiency to be realized, marketing and processing would also have to be rationalized.