the asti report notes that following a decade of slowing growth in the s spending on global agricultural research and development increased by per cent during the period from billion to billion in ppp dollars accelerated research and development spending by china and india accounted for close to half the global increase of billion during the period similartrends seem to be confirmed from most recent data from the asti database with a doubling of agricultural spending for viet nam between and and more than per cent growth between and for bangladesh and nepal