mercial agriculture. New technologies emerging from
research laboratories will not be utilized without new
skills at the farm level. Skilled entrepreneurial and labor
forces on farms also generate demands for new tech-
nologies. Between farms and research agencies are in-
put markets that produce and distribute the products
that carry new technologies. These include improved
seeds, better fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides
and machines. The skills required in the farm input
industry depend mutually upon the skills of researchers
and farmers.
 Specific subjects need to be addressed. Each time new
 pesticides become available, resistant biotypes emerge,
 and each time a new "integrated pest management
 system" is evolved, skill requirements must be reassessed.
 This is a multidisciplinary task. Research on determina-
 tion of personnel needs will lead to improvements in
 training programs for both the private and public
 sectors.

 The computer revolution has created a need for new
skills. The development of low-cost, highly efficient mini
and microcomputers and word processors has expanded
needs for computer skills in farming and all farm-related
input and product markets. Electronics, computerized
information systems and networks operated at the farm
level are changing both production and marketing
strategies and technologies. The kinds of computer train-
ing programs sponsored by public and private agencies
for agriculture need to be researched.


Disciplinary or Basic Research in
Sciences Relevant for Human Development
 The foremost DISC researcher on human capital is
 T. W. Schultz, Nobel laureate, and his associates, in-
 cluding Gary Becker. Their studies were preceded by
 the earlier works of family economists Margaret Reid
 and Hazel Kyrk. They have concentrated on the con-
 tributions the discipline of economics can make to the
 understanding of human development. Contributions
 are also needed from psychology, sociology, physiology,
 anthropology and human nutrition.

 Human Capital and the Family DISC research on
 the role of the farm family in human development is of
 high priority. The impact of high technology on farm
 families increases the need for understanding how the
 family functions in human development. Research
should be expanded on theories of consumer and
household behavior, and the allocation of time, money,
energy and space to various activities by family
members. Investments in skills, the roles of social institu-
tions, family household production functions and the
relationships of these to the quality of life of farm
families should be pursued.


 Human Capital and Society Improvements in the
education of scientists (both social and physical), tech-
nologists, entrepreneurs and institutional innovators call
for DISC research by psychologists, sociologists and
economists. Educational institutions create human
capital beyond the family. Schools, colleges, universities
and institutes, building on the outputs of families, train
scientists, scholars, technologists, entrepreneurs, govern-
ment officials and institution builders.
 Stress Management The nature of human stress and
how to manage it are inadequately understood. Changes
such as new communication technologies, microcom-
puter usage and the high technology of contemporary
farming, coupled with other economic and social prob-
lems, can be either highly threatening, stressful and
debilitating or stimulating to farmers and farm families.
Improved disciplinary knowledge of stress and stress
management will be needed as agricultural technologies
become more complex and stressful.
 The Productivity of Human Capital Economists
are challenged with needs for additional DISC research
on the productivity of human capital investments in
agricultural research and extension, in farm women and
men, and in the health of farm people.
 Learning and the Management of New Technologies
- The psychology, economics, sociology, statistics and
mathematics of learning about new agricultural tech-
nologies are DISC research areas for psychologists,
economists and sociologists. Sociologists and psycholo-
gists have done much research on early and late adopters
(Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971). Somewhat
independently, psychologists have studied learning proc-
esses. Farm management students have done prelimi-
nary DISC research on the economics of acquiring and
using knowledge (Johnson, et al., 1961). Statisticians and
mathematicians have investigated the consequences of
different decisions and, in some instances, the costs and
returns of increments of knowledge. Results of further
DISC research in several disciplines outlined above
should be coordinated with SM research on the manage-
ment of new agricultural technologies.


Subject-Matter and Disciplinary Research
Involving the Accumulation
of Physical and Biological Capital

 Most technological advances are embodied in some
form of capital, such as breeding herds, orchards, irriga-
tion systems, computers, automated controls and
improved varieties. Technological advance and capital
accumulation do not always go together. Agricultural
systems grow in part because they accumulate capital-
physical, biological and human. History shows that
agricultural systems grow faster if the accumulation of