In contemporary crop production, as in the past, growers balance the cost of pesticide inputs to control insects and diseases with the risk of suffering severe crops losses.  Chemical companies develop new pesticides to replace chemicals to which resistance develops in insects and fungal pathogens.  However, as the cost of bringing new pesticides to market increases the number of new agricultural chemicals being registered is declining.  In addition to fewer new chemicals coming to market, many of the chemicals that have been used successfully in the past are being removed from the market for various reasons.  There is also pressure by consumers to reduce pesticide use in crop production and pressure by all concerned to minimize the amount of pesticides in our environment.  The major driving force behind the development of alternative technologies to control plant pests and diseases are: the reduced number of available pesticides, increasing concern and awareness over the short and long term effect these chemicals are having on the environment, and the cost of purchasing and applying pesticides to crops.  Information from the Agricultural Chemical Usage Summary provides information on the quantity of chemicals used to control insects and diseases on potato in 1992.  The objective of this paper is to outline some of the progress that has been made towards engineering resistance to viral,  bacterial and fungal pathogens and major insect and nematode pests of potatoes.  The topic of genetic engineering for control of plant diseases has been reviewed recently.