SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS JULY, 1984 DISCUSSION: AGRICULTURAL ECONOMISTS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT: RESPONSIBILITIES, OPPORTUNITIES, RISKS, AND PAYOFFS

There is little disagreement with the paper technology that originally set the stage for most by Nelson and Doeksen. These authors have of what is called rural development problems. considered the history of and the justification The need for providing off-farm employment for the Land-Grant System from its nineteenth either in rural areas or the distant city is a century origins to the late twentieth century. familiar one to the rural development social They have distinguished between the traditional scientist. Problems arising from changes in the or primary charge of the System in terms of its demand for public and private services arising responsibility for agricultural development and directly and indirectly from the development its recent secondary responsibility for rural de- and application of agricultural technology is velopment. also a familiar one to those of us working in The general lack of support for research and rural development. extension programs in rural development was Even at the risk of over emphasizing the ob-measured by Nelson and Doeksen by comparing vious, it is important to note that public support percentages of land-grant university funds (3 for agricultural technology development or, for percent) and percentages of Cooperative Ex- that matter, general development of technolog