In anearly "60Minutes" essay that won him the third of hisfourEmmyAwards, his compromiseto the grainembargo against the Soviet Union was to sellthemcereal.
In the 1980s, however, those same farmers were crushed by the Soviet grainembargo, double-digit interest rates, a worldwide recession and high energy costs.
Officials fear that if China becomes dependent on grain imports, it would be vulnerable to a grainembargo at times of international tension, perhaps led by the United States.
Dr Feng counters fears about a grainembargo, by pointing out that any land used in other food production could fairly quickly be re-converted to grain in an emergency.