Agricultural research: some reforms, but a lack of overall vision – Analysis of the management of the government funded agricultural research

Key facts

Agricultural research has periodically been the object of political debate, be it to limit or increase the resources allocated to it. Agroscope, made up of three research institutes and managed by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), has undergone several reforms since the end of the 1990s. The Agricultural Research Council was set up in 1996 in order to advise the FOAG. Other public research institutions are also active in the area, such as the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, universities and universities of applied sciences.