The deteriorating food situation the world over is a matter of serious concern to all. More than half of the world's population is hungry or undernourished or both. The rapidly growing population, especially in the developing regions, has made the problem still more serious and urgent. The present world population of 340 crores is likely to increase to 644 crores by the year 2000. For feeding this population, world food production would have to go up at least by 123% by that time. Taking the developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America separately, the food production in these countries would have to increase by 150% by the end of the present century. In India alone, with a population of nearly 51 crores, additional pro-vision has to be made every year for feeding 1 crore and 25 lahks of people.