Description
Originally published in 1964 by Stanford University Press and the Food Research Institute.
The Papaloapan Project
Agricultural Development in the Mexican Tropics
Thomas T. Poleman
Many of Latin America's most pressing economic problems stem from the juxtaposition of rapid population growth and limited agricultural capabilities. In Mexico, Central America, and the Andean countries, these problems are compounded by the fact that most of the potential cropland is situated not in the highlands, where the population is concentrated, but in underdeveloped, low-lying tropical areas.
The Papaloapan Project is the first major governmental attempt to stimulate development in Mexico's humid tropical regions, which constitute about 20 percent of the country's land area and its greatest reserves of potentially arable land. Because of isolation, disease, and unpleasant climate, these regions have historically supported only a small population and a very limited agriculture. The purpose of this book is to describe and evaluate the sixteen-year experience of this regional development scheme, and to point up lessons of interest to the many countries now planning similar projects.
The first part of the study outlines the importance of the Papaloapan Project against a backdrop of Mexico's relatively meager agricultural resources and rapidly increasing population. In the second part, the physical and human resources of the Papaloapan River basin are described, its economy at the outset of the project is discussed, and events leading up to the creation of “Mexico’s TVA,” are reviewed. The final and major part of the study deals in detail with the project itself: the problems and difficulties encountered in getting it under way, and the results, both favorable and disappointing, thus far achieved. Particularly emphasized are the agricultural schemes carried out under the project, and the reasons for their lack of success. From this analysis are drawn general conclusions regarding the problems of agricultural development in pioneer tropical areas and government’s role in helping to overcome them.
In 1964, Mr. Poleman was Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at Cornell University.
A publication of the FOOD RESEARCH INSTITUTE, STUDIES IN TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT. This is a reproduction edition from a scanned copy of the original Stanford University Press edition (ISBN 0804702071) published in 1964.
