Economic growth depends largely on growth in agriculture, and
agricultural growth is a function of research and development. There is
an increasing realisation that the welfare of mankind in the future will
hinge crucially on agricultural research policy. The book under review
is an edited collection of twelve chapters covering five major themes in
the area and is a follow-up volume to the agricultural research
indicator series of ISNAR (International Service for National
Agricultural Research) published in 1989. The five themes covered are
agricultural research in a policy context; measuring agricultural
research and economic development; private and public sector
agricultural research and emerging issues in the area of agricultural
research policy. The list of contributors to this volume reflects the
wide experience in the area of international agricultural research that
is distilled into the twelve chapters of the book. The international
perspective is considerably strengthened by the intimate knowledge of
the international agricultural research system with which all three
editors and a significant number of the contributors are or have been
associated either directly or indirectly.