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Abstract
Agricultural production, the basis of Guatemala's economy, increased during the past 15 years and is expected to continue to rise in the next decade. The principal export crops--coffee, cotton, sugar, and bananas--are grown on large holdings and have benefited the most from improved growing and marketing techniques. Corn is the principal subsistence crop and wheat is the most important agricultural import. Both crop and livestock output can be expanded, but their rapid growth is handicapped by the low level of education of many farmers, unimproved agricultural technology on numerous farms, inadequate farm credit, and political and social problems. The United States and Guatemala are politically and economically important to each other. The United States is the first market for Guatemala's exports, but its share in total export value is declining as members of the Central American Common Market take a greater quantity of Guatemala's commodities.