In the past, technology has played a key role in promoting agricultural development and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. Initially, it made it possible to incorporate new lands into agricultural activities. As horizontal expansion became more difficult, it found ways to increase production through productivity growth. Under the national and international conditions now confronting the economies of the region, the importance of technology, far from being diminished, has increased. In the short term, a growth in productivity will be needed to counterbalance the decline in international prices and maintain the regions competitive advantages in agricultural production. Over the longer term, the need for technological change arises from the new role of agriculture in the process of ractivating the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean