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A novel strategy for the maximum production of a biodegradable copolymer, poly(3-hydroxybutyric-co-hydroxyvaleric) acid, P(HB-co-HV), was developed, based on the kinetic parameters obtained from fed-batch culture experiments of Alcaligenes eutrophus. The effects of various culture conditions such as mole ratio of carbon:nitrogen in feed medium (C/N); total fatty acids concentrations; and addition ratio of fatty acids on cultivation properties such as the specific rates of cell formation, μ (h⁻¹), P(HB-co-HV) production, ρ[g·P(HB-co-HV)/g·cell/h], production yield from fatty acids [g·P(HB-co-HV)/g·fatty acid], and mole fraction of monomeric units in the copolymer [mol·(HV)/{mol·(HB) + mol·(HV)}], were investigated. When nitrogen supply was sufficient for cell growth; that is, C/N (mol·nitrogen atom/mol·carbon atom) was low, μ was high, but ρ and the production yield were low, because fatty acids were used mainly for energy formation and anabolic reactions in the cells. On the other hand, when nitrogen supply was limited for cell growth—that is, C/N was high—ρ was high. The highest value of ρ was obtained when C/N was 75. As the mole ratio of valeric acid (VA) to butyric acid (BA) in the feed medium was increased, the mole fraction of HV units in P(HB-co-HV) increased linearly. When the ratio of BA to VA in the feed medium was kept at a constant value, but C/N was increased, the mole fraction of HV units decreased. In particular, when C/N was >12, the mole fraction of HV units decreased linearly as C/N increased. When VA was utilized as the sole carbon source and C/N was fixed at 4, P(HB-co-HV) with the highest mole fraction of HV units (67 mol%) was achieved. From these results, it was shown that both C/N and the mole ratio of BA to VA in the feed medium should be well controlled for an optimal production of P(HB-co-HV) with the desired value of the mole fraction of HV units. When the addition ratio of butyric acid was 50 wt% of total fatty acids, a maximum production strategy for P(HB-co-HV) was developed and realized experimentally, which was based on a model of the relationship between μ and ρ. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 62: 518–525, 1999.