128 Y. Yuthavong
The outlook on world agricultural production has changed considerably
recently, owing significantly to the advances of biotechnology, resulting in
favorable increases from developing and developed countries alike. How-
ever, the general decline in prices of agricultural commodities has added
another dimension to the problems. Table 2 gives an estimate of the num-
ber of people in the developing world suffering from important infectious
diseases (Warren, 1985), the alleviation of which depends to a great extent
on vaccines and diagnostics developed from new biotechnology. From
these selective indicators, it is obvious that biotechnology can contribute
significantly to the problems of the developing countries.


 Table 1. Comparison of the situation in agriculture and
developing and developed countries.


food between


Developing Developed
Countries Countries


Percent of world population 67 33
Percent of world agricultural production 38 62
Production per agricultural worker ($,1975) 550 5220
Arable land per agricultural worker (ha) 1.3 8.9
Fertilizer use (kg/ha) of agricultural land 9 40
Total daily food consumption (calories) 2180 3315



 Table 2. Estimate of the number of people in the developing world suf-
fering from important infectious diseases, 1977-1978.
Infection Deaths Disease
 (thousands/Year) (thousands of cases/Year)
Malaria 1200 150,000
Schistosomiasis 500-1000 20,000
Tuberculosis 400 7,000
Hookworm 50-60 1,500
Ascariasis 20 1,000
Source: WHO and Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases.


 A crucial question in the use of biotechnology in the developing world is
its endogenous capability and potentials for development. Many develop-
ing countries have, through the centuries, accumulated traditional wis-