ABSTRACT
The large expenditures made in recent decades on the genetic improvement of plants as well as animals imply that the existing genetic potentials of these various species have been rather fully exploited and need to be modified. The system of rice intensification (SRI) developed and being used in Madagascar suggests, however, that considerable genetic potential exists that can be tapped by altering management practices, exploiting the power of biological processes and the dynamics of agroecological relationships. As seen also from other cases in this book, such strategies can increase production by multiples, not just increments. Specific practices may not be universally applicable, but the principles underlying them should be examined and extrapolated as widely as is productive.
