The status of agricultural research, and major tasks ahead

Szűcs, István, – Mohamed, Zsuzsanna – Takács, Szabolcs

Keywords: teaching of agricultural research, R&D, innovation transfer

The teaching of agricultural research is a priority for the society. Innovation is a conscious human activity covering all areas of technical and economic development, aimed at the production of new goods and services in novel ways by making direct use of scientific achievements. It is an activity intended to bring results, and is the motor behind economic growth. The stronger competition is in the domestic and international markets, the more important it is to adopt an innovative way of thinking.
Data of the Member States for 2005-2008 indicate a very strong correlation between the countries’ economies and the intensity of their R&D activities. The wealthier a country the more it spends on research and development.
In Hungary, the most important tasks on agricultural R&D&I are the following:
– the innovation process can only be handled successfully if treated as a system; precisely calculated pathways need to be designed and innovation activities organised accordingly;
– society should agree to R&D spending beyond their means, which would involve financial sacrifice with benefits which would only appear later;
– all activities should be intended for the production of marketable products for the domestic or international markets;
– a radical change of perspective is called for, entrepreneurship should be prompted by offering tangible financial benefits (e.g. tax, subsidies etc.);
– integration in the large R&D projects of the Community is required, but findings should be implemented in product development on the national level, using national resources;
– a radical transformation of the funding of innovation is called for in order to mobilize the huge intellectual capacity we have in our possession.
The intellectual tasks related to the transfer of scientific knowledge should be the self-proclaimed task of the agricultural education and research institutions. K&F&I tasks should be directed to more goal oriented paths than they currently follow.
The underlying goal should be to develop better products and new technologies which produce better quality or at a lower price.
Break-out points in the development of agricultural research and development are:
– research of new potential systems for land use, settlement of land ownership;
– setting up a R&D basis, a satelling network focusing on experiments, with appropriate orders from the government;
– the organisation of innovation holdings along regional or vertical (product oriented) clusters;
– building new bastions for sales marketing activities;
– organisation of cooling capacities, cooling chains and logistical supply systems, combined with protection of the internal market.
Successful completion of these tasks requires a modern R&D&I grant application system, with a simplified system of applications and the regulation of application writing firms, as otherwise it could be a source of various forms of fraud.

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