ABSTRACT
Agriculture is benefiting from advances in science and technology, not only in industrialized nations, but in the Third World as well. While constraints on agricultural production are most critical in developing countries, hopes are high that biotechnology will have a major impact on agriculture both at home and abroad. US Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D) is fully aware that the application of biotechnology to problems in the developing world requires adaptation and reinforcement. Many of the problems affecting agriculture in the developing world have been identified and the potential that biotechnology offers to address these problems is impressive. In 1975, U.S.A.I.D and the University of Hawaii initiated a joint effort to help to accelerate the use of one of the earliest biotechnologies in the developing world -- the application of biological nitrogen fixation. Biotechnology applications that have obvious financial potential will certainly stimulate private-sector involvement in highly developed countries.
