This Compendium is a first endeavour to treat the complex subject of development of rural resources in the
tropics and subtropics in such a manner that it will be a practical guide especially for field workers who are
often confronted with a wide range of queries while being cut off from various sources of information. It
cannot be but a compromise between ease of handling, comprehensiveness and conciseness, a difficult
compromise indeed, as numerous subjects are involved.
Because of the vital importance of agricultural development to various tropical and subtropical countries
and-in the context of today's growing interdependence - to mankind as a whole, the contents of the
Compendium are of a general and world-wide nature.