As the world transitions from an industrial society to an information society, agriculture has undergone a dramatic transformation. Food production in the twentieth century was transformed by three revolutions: first mechanical, then genetic, and finally chemical. Now, in the twenty-first century, agriculture is going through at least two more revolutions: an information technology revolution leading to precision farming, and a biotechnology revolution leading to genetically engineered crops.

Organized by Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies with the collaboration of the Scientific Committee for Problems of the Environment, this interdisciplinary volume examines the impact of a variety of new technological, social, and economic trends on the rural environment.

Contributions by: Miguel Altieri, V. Balaji, Sandra Batie, Carlos H. Cadoppi, Nazri Choucri, John H. Coatsworth, Pierre Crosson, Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla, Otto Doering, Juan Enriquez, Rocio Fernandez Ales, Eugenio Figueroa, Wyn Grant, Merilee Grindle, Robert Horsch, Anthony C. Janetos, Jordan Kimball, William Lockeretz, Jerry Melillo, Rolando Meninato, Jean-Claude Monolou, Lazaro Ojeda Quintana, Angelo Palermo, Roberto Peiretti, Max Pfeffer, Veronique Plocq Fichelet, Beatrice Rogers, Carlos A. Salvador, Emilio Satorre, Jose Maria Sumpsi Vinas, Laura Vainesman, Raul Vera, Ernesto F. Viglizzo, Talal Younes