INTRODUCTION

In most Asian countries agriculture is still the predominant occupation of the majority of the people (Thailand 75.4 per cent, Nepal 92.6 per cent). It is also true that, until relatively recently, the farmers of these states formed the main reservoirs of poverty and were engaged largely in subsistence agriculture employing traditional methods for tillage and cultivation; methods of production inadequate to meet even basic needs. Modernization of the rural sector and increased productivity from the land have therefore been important elements in national development plans throughout the region.