Development of national plant breeding capacity and its current and future status is a complex issue. Geographical and economic circumstances differ enormously over the developed and developing world. Even on a regional basis, there can be large differences among countries. Civil conflict and natural disasters have had long-lasting effects on national capacities to undertake agricultural research. Countries also have very different natural resource bases; some are rich and others poor. Some have well-educated workforces while others do not. Given such complicating factors, it is not possible to describe a single model of the status of plant breeding and biotechnology application in the developing world. Nor is it possible to design a single set of remedial measures needed to halt the decline in plant breeding. Accurate models will necessarily be situation-specific.