Agricultural biotechnology for sustainable productivity: a USAID initiative for plant biotechnology in the developing world

摘要

Significant changes in world geography and politics and an ever-growing world population continue to put increasing pressure on food producers to deliver more food grown in the same or less space with greater nutritional value and less effect on the environment. At the same time, the understanding of plant biology and agriculture also has grown, providing the scientific com-munity new tools with which to contribute to the resolution of these challenges. The capacity to take advantage of these new research opportunities has rapidly advanced among industrialized countries while developing countries are often unable to keep pace. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) addresses the discrepancy in national science and technology capabilities through programs of collaboration among developed and developing countries which seek to enhance the sustainability of agricultural productivity.