Excerpt from Food Balances in Foreign Countries, Vol. 2: Estimates for 12 Countries in the Far East

The Far East, excluding Mainland China, has more than 850 million people or about 30 percent of the world's population. It is predominantly agricultural. Nearly 70 percent of the people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Output per person is low because farms are small and the scientific and mechanical advances made in the West have been applied only in a limited way in this part of the world. Certain commercial creps such as rubber, cotton, and tobacco are grown with advantage, but emphasis is on the production of subsistence creps. About 85 percent of the total agricultural output consists of food cr0ps; this proportion remains virtually unchanged from prewar. Domestic food production is supplemented by substantial net imports of food grains averaging about 10 million tons annually in recent years. This is a considerable share of the total world trade, and com pares with net exports of almost 3 million tons prewar. Nevertheless, it is less than 5 percent of the food consumption in the region.

With low per capita output of food and of products that can be traded for food, consumption levels are low. Average food consumption for the region as a whole, in terms of energy value, is estimated at only calories per person per day, or well below the average for most other underdeveloped regions, including Western Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Variation among countries within the Far East is relatively slight-from about in Pakistan to somewhat more than in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. Variation within countries is almost cer tain to be much greater. The composition of the diet varies widely. Grain con sumption is highest in Northeast Asia, but throughout the region it is higher than in most countries of the Western World. In only a few countries of the Far East does grain account for less than two-thirds of the total calories. Animal protein foods are consumed, but Sparingly. In such populous countries as India, Pakistan, and Indonesia they contribute less than 5 percent of the energy value of the food supply. Even in Japan, where fish is an important source of protein, the amount of animal protein in the diet is small compared to vegetable protein, obtained mostly from grains and pulses. The share of fats in the diet is highest in Singapore and the Federation of Malaya and lowest in South Korea. Fruits and vegetables are most important in Ceylon, Indonesia and the Philippines, where fresh coconuts are consumed in substantial quantities.

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