Concerned with the application of science and technology to agriculture, this book is intended to be used as a reference for rural education groups and as a guide for teachers in an attempt to formulate a new approach to teaching rural economics by integrating it into the overall analysis of social and economic development. The book is divided into two parts with an introduction that presents a discussion of the inequalities in development. Part I analyzes the relationship between agriculture and underdevelopment. A discussion of the historical development precedes the following three chapters of part I: (1) Traditional agricultural societies and their transformation; (2) the socioeconomic organization of agriculture in the less developed countries; and (3) overall underdevelopment and agricultural underdevelopment. Part II analyzes the relationship between agriculture and development. A discussion of the structural representation and process of economic transformation precedes the four chapters of part II which include (1) the contribution of agriculture to growth; (2) the role of agriculture in bringing about development; (3) agricultural development strategy; and (4) the relative decline and transformation of agriculture. Each chapter is followed by revision exercises, check tests, and topics for group discussion. A list of the major international statistical yearbooks, growth and development indicators for selected countries, and answers to the exercises are appended. (BM)