Rice production may
link NIL. S. Vietnam
by CAROL GOETSCHIUS
Nebraska Staff Writer
If plans are accepted by the
BoarM of R: gents, the
University of Nebraska and
rice production in South, Viet
nam may be directly linked.
Elvin F. Frolik, dean of the
College of Agriculture, will
present a proposal for
establishment f a technical
assistance program to South
Vietnam to the Regents Nov.
20.
Assistance to the country
would take the form of a con
tract between the U.S. Agency
for International Development
(AID) and the University.
Under the AID contract,
research would be conducted to
Increase livestock production
through a feed grain program
and the growing of legumes
(soybeans, peanuts) to improve
the amoant of protein in the
Vietnamese diet.
The war has disrupted
South Vietnam's agriculture
pretty seriously said Frolik,
who returned last week from a
tour of South Vietnam.
The purpose of his six-country,
3Way trip to Southeast
Asia was to examine the
possiblity of a technical
assistance program to the war
torn country, he said.
Although he saw "a tremen
dous lot of military, and was
awakened occasionally by
artillery fire, Frolik said his
group was able to conduct its
countryside inspection without
military prolecticn.
He saw considerably, less
fighting than he'd expected,
Frolik said. "We heard some
small arms fire and pulled over
to the side of the road to see
what it was. It turned out to be
a soldier trying to shoot a
coconut out of a tree.'
Traveling mainly by
automobile, Frolik visited
farms, AID stations, an
agricultural experiment station
in An Loc and a Montagnard
village.
Included in his trip was a
stop at My Tho, a city in the
Mekong Delta practically
ruined during the Tet offensive.
My Tho is the proposed site for
the AID station if the
University decides to enter a
contract, Frolik said.
Despite current AID pro
grams and money from the
U.S. military, Frolik observed
that the years of war have
taken their toll in agriculture.
The dean pointed out that
before the war, South Vietnam
was exporting rice, it's
number-one crop, but the
country must now Import the
product. Vietnam also had a
"pretty good fruit poductioa
before the war," he added.
Frolik , , "war has dlsrapted South Vietnam's agriculture.
The outlook for agriculture in
the future is good, Frolik said.
"There is a huge potential for
food production in the tropics.'
The Saigon government
presently has a land reform
program which tries to get land
into the hands of the farmer,
said Frolik. Although there is
some modem equipment, the
water buffalo is still the main
source of power, he added.
He was accompanied on one
leg of his trip by the Viet
namese minister of agriculture.
Frolik said the people were
very friendly.
While in Vietnam, Frolik was
headquartered in Saigon,
"Saigon reminds me of Rome
in 1954, thick with motorbikes,'
he commented, and Ma blue
haze of pollution hangs over the
city".
Before arriving In Vietnam,
Frolik spent the first few weeks
in October surveying the
agriculture research and ex
perimental programs of Japan,
Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand
and the Philippines. "This was
a very valuable part of my
trip," he said.
Frolik's next step is to confer
with his staff about sending a
team of about four men to
Vietnam.
If the Regents give the pro
gram the go-ahead, then NU
will begin negotiating a con
tract with AID in Washington,
said Frolik. "AID la very much
intersted in us coming over,"
the dean added.
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9. 1970
THE NEBRASKAN
PAGE 3