In most Asian countries agriculture is still the predominant occupation of the majority of the people (Thailand 75.4 per cent, Nepal 92.6 per cent). It is also true that, until relatively recently, the farmers of these states formed the main reservoirs of poverty and were engaged largely in subsistence agriculture employing traditional methods for tillage and cultivation; methods of production inadequate to meet even basic needs. Modernization of the rural sector and increased productivity from the land have therefore been important elements in national development plans throughout the region. Since the 1960s the ‘green revolution’ has provided a stimulus to rural development. Development through the transfer of agricultural technology from the industrialized countries has played a pivotal role in anti-poverty programmes. Because of its nature, however, technology transfer has also become a matter of increased political and social concern to the states of Asia. The transfer of new technology is not new to Asian communities. They have been absorbing technology from foreign countries for centuries. Such a process however has been slow and incremental and might be termed technology absorption rather than transfer of technology. (1) The deliberate transfer of technology for industrial or agricultural improvement implies more than the normal market forces operating to facilitate the introduction of new ideas into Asian society and its impact is correspondingly greater. Agricultural technology has been introduced in a number of ways. In some cases a deliberate transfer of technology has come about through specific programmes as part of the national development plan. Sometimes the transfer has been imposed from above; at other times it has arisen as a result of encouragement by government but without imposition. Yet again examples abound of technology which has been introduced in communities as a result of community pressure itself. By a common recognition of the ability to improve standards of living such action has been generated by the farmers themselves.