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El Salvador Basic Grains
During the late 1970s, the Salvadoran government shifted the
emphasis of agricultural policy away from traditional export
commodities toward increased production of staple crops for
domestic consumption. Food security, defined as the ability to
produce enough food domestically, was a goal of the government in
the 1980s, but one that proved increasingly elusive. The area
under cereals cultivation declined from 422,000 hectares in 1979
to 390,000 hectares in 1986 because farms located in conflict
zones were abandoned. The shortfall was made up by an increase in
imports. Salvadoran food imports totaled only 75,000 tons in
1974; by 1986, however, this figure had risen to 212,000 tons. In
response to the insurgency, food aid was increased. In 1974-75,
for example, El Salvador received only 4,000 tons of food aid; by
1985-86 this figure had risen to 278,000 tons.
Maize production declined steadily from 517,000 tons in 1979
to 391,000 tons in 1986. The area for maize cultivation also
declined from 281,000 hectares to 243,000 hectares, while yields
shrank from 1.8 tons per hectare to 1.5 tons per hectare. Rice
production, however, remained fairly steady. Salvadoran farmers
maintained approximately 15,000 hectares in rice from 1979 to
1986 (rising to 17,000 hectares in 1985); harvests rose from
56,000 tons in 1979 to 69,000 tons in 1985, only to drop to
53,000 tons in 1986. Sorghum production and cultivation also
declined slightly. In 1979 farmers devoted 126,000 hectares to
the cultivation of sorghum, compared with 119,000 hectares in
1986. Sorghum harvests declined from 145,000 tons in 1979 to
135,000 tons in 1986.
Data as of November 1988
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