Subsidies and Rural Practice

Extract

Agriculture and industry are vital forces in the economy of any country. The former has unfortunately become more dependent on government for subsidies, and government in turn retains the power to legislate and implement programmes to ease the problems inherent in animal and wool production. Rural poverty has existed for decades. Small holdings are still popular and are even encouraged by some government programmes even though a strong correlation exists between low incomes and small farms. All such programmes exert pressure on government finances and are not always popular with the consumer who already is paying a high price for food.