estonian agriculture, rural economy and food industry

5.
administers the European Union SAPARD programme
subsidies. The board is also responsible for maintaining
state agricultural registers and databases and
for processing and analysing the register data.
Rural economy specialists of county governments.
They organise group advising and the
financing of advisory projects and cooperate with
the Ministry of Agriculture.
Estonian Agricultural University
farming paper Hüva Nõu, providing practical
advice on animal nutrition, fertilisation of fields,
production of feedstuff, etc.
To assess the efficiency of advisory activities,
advice surveys are carried out among agricultural
producers. The advisory service is improved on the
basis of the survey results. Surveys indicate that in
comparison to other ways of gaining advice, the
advice received by an advisor is valued the most
and its price is seen as corresponding to the
information received.
Organisations relating to
advisory activities
Professional agricultural advisors have united in
the Estonian Association of Agricultural Advisors.
Farm unions. Professional advisors are
employed by each county’s farm union. They provide
advice to farmers who have received advisory
support, as well as to small producers who have
not received support. Advice contracts are concluded
and training days are held in farm unions.
Estonian Farmers' Federation. The federation
provides complementary training to the chairmen
of the county farm unions.
Associations of agricultural producers. County
associations organise training for their members,
large-scale agricultural producers (private and
public limited companies).
Jäneda Training and Advisory Centre. The
centre holds courses and training days, in which
nearly a thousand agricultural producers, advisors,
teachers of agricultural schools, etc. participate
every year. The advisory centre compiles and publishes
printed materials, advisory publications, etc.
Agricultural Registers and Information Board.
The board provides group advising in the area of
government of the Ministry of Agriculture, organises
the payment of agricultural and rural support, and
Research concentrates in the university
Transformations have also taken place on the
research directions during the last ten years. The
state research and development policy is implemented
and organised by the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs plays the
main role in innovation policy. Each ministry is
responsible for organising the necessary research
and development and the necessary financing in
their own area of government, as well as for
preparing national R&D programmes.
The central research institution in agricultural
sciences is the Estonian Agricultural University,
which a number of minor, formerly independent
agricultural research institutions have joined. The
Agricultural University has six faculties and seven
independent institutes. The university employs 311
researchers; research institutions administered by
the Ministry of Agriculture employ 76 researchers
(with an average age of 54 years).
The research institutions in the area of
administration of the Ministry of Agriculture are:
Estonian Research Institute of Agriculture
Teaduse 4, 75501 Saku, Estonia
http://www.eria.ee/
The institute studies the cultivation of agricultural
crops, plant diseases, the processing and storage
of crops, development and innovation, and
tests agricultural machines. The Agricultural
Mechanisation Institute merged with the Research
Institute of Agriculture in 2001.
Jõgeva Plant Breeding Institute
48309 Jõgeva, Estonia
http://www.jpbi.ee/
The institute engages in plant breeding of the
main crops grown in Estonia (cereals and legumes,
hay plants, potatoes, vegetables), maintenance breeding
of registered varieties, the production of breeders'
seed, and the preservation of genetic resources.
Control Centre of Plant Production
Teaduse 6, 75501 Saku, Estonia
http://tmkk.ee/
The Control Centre of Plant Production also
participates in research and development and
monitoring. The centre engages in research and
development in the area of good agricultural practice,
innovation, monitoring of the agricultural
environment, administration of the network of
experimental stations and laboratories.
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