Excerpt from Monoculture in Agriculture, Extent, Causes, and Problems: Report of the Task Force on Spatial Heterogeneity in Agricultural Landscapes and Enterprises The Task Force on Spatial Heterogeneity in Agricultural Landscapes and Enterprises was_ established at the direction of Dr. Ned Bayley, then, Director of Science and Education, United States Department of Agriculture. Its purposes were (1) to review the costs and benefits of monocultural systems, (2) to identify potential alternatives to those monocultural systems that appear to be especially susceptible to increased disease, pest, and pollution costs, and (3) to recommend research studies to evaluate the merit of the alternatives. Development of a satisfactory concept of monoculture was prerequisite to the studies made by the Task Force. There was little hard information available relating to the extent of monoculture in us. Agriculture. In this report we have assessed the extent of monoculture and the geographic location of intensive monoculture. We believe this is the first time such an assessment has been made. Forestry was not included in the scope of this study although many interrelationships exist. Present cropping patterns have resulted from a combination of forces. Most important are the independent decisions made by many individual farmers on the basis of economic return to the enterprise. These decisions have taken into account such factors as Government farm programs, compara tive biological efficiencies of various creps, and levels of technology available for production and handling of various cr0ps. Because American farmers make decisions mostly on the basis of economic return, viable alternatives or modifications to monoculture must provide equal or greater economic incentive to individual farmers either through the marketplace or through various societal programs that substitute for the marketplace. The Task Force assessed possible alternatives and modifications to monoculture within such constraints as maintenance of economically viable agriculture and adequate food and fiber supplies at reasonable costs to the public. Recommendations concerning pertinent areas of research were made. One principal objective of this report is to stimulate important research related to spatial heterogeneity in agriculture. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.