ABSTRACT
Prior to the 1960s, the research capacity of developing countries was chiefly strengthened through financial support to existing tropical research institutes, through scholarships and university contracts, particularly for the agricultural colleges. In industrialized countries, the role in serving the agricultural sector has diminished in pace with a declining farming population. There must be a strategy for a reasonable balance between demand and output, a responsibility for both the agricultural university and the government concerned. In agriculture, there is often no private sector prepared to invest significantly in agricultural research&development. Agricultural universities in highly industrialized countries ought to focus sharply on problem solving research. There is only one Swedish agricultural university but there are 40 institutions for university education. Curricula must be made more relevant to agriculture in transition from subsistence to commercial production. In India, agricultural higher education ought to be examined since more flexibility is needed in the existing course curricula.
