The political position

As local consumer tastes for wheat-based products in food-deficit countries have been developed, prices have often been kept artificially low by governments and subsidies provided by producer-exporters. The United States government subsidized its wheat farmers by $4 billion in t983, and the EEC by $2 billion. If the EEC does not change it policy, 60 million tonnes of surplus cereals will be produced by the year 2000, in addition to present surpluses. These amounts are likely to increase substantially due to the impact of new biotechnologies. Export markets are already huge: in 1984 for example, Egypt alone imported $1 .6 billion of wheat, and competition in these markets will increase in future. Governments in the tropics will have to pay close attention to domestic food-pricing policies, food aid, import guidelines and to the promotion of using locally grown and processed foods if any fledgling wheat farming system is to be successful. Policies adopted by the major wheat-exporting countries will also be a major factor in determining whether wheat does indeed become a significant crop in the tropics.As local consumer tastes for wheat-based products in food-deficit countries have been developed, prices have often been kept artificially low by governments and subsidies provided by producer-exporters. The United States government subsidized its..