The research published here constitutes a profound reflection on what is taking place in the world of agriculture at the threshold of the year 2000.

The book attempts to go beyond a narrow sectoral analysis of the primary sector. It sets out to focus instead on the dynamic and innovative aspects of the agrotechnological system constituted by the complex interdependence of the agro-production, agro-food, agro-industrial and agro-ecological subsystems. The authors, internationally renowned scholars and scientists, tackle the most pressing contemporary economics issues from both a theoretical and policy-making standpoint. Three different lines of research are pursued concerning, first, the evolution and trends of world and European agricultural production, second, agricultural surplus formation and productivity dynamics in the economies of industrialized countries, and, lastly, the destination of agricultural outputs and land allotment under the impact of agro-bio-technologies.