ABSTRACT
The term globalization first appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in 1961. Today, it is a household word but has different meanings for different people. The current globalization process can be seen as an acceleration of historical dynamics with characteristics such as rapid communications, new technologies and free trade ideology with no effective democratic system of global governance. Globalization needs market forces so it probably strengthens the rich to get richer rather than help the poor. The Transnational corporations (TNCs) and large companies are major actors in global agriculture in input supply, commodity trading and agricultural research. The mergers of companies lead to concentration of power. In agribusiness, this process was started in the 1970s by the petroleum industry, Shell becoming the largest seed company. India and the United States decided to have joint biotechnology projects in a Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture over three years, starting in 2006 and investing some US$ 100 million.
