Relevance of Technology Transfer in Agriculture and ... - SVT

Relevance of Technology Transfer in Agriculture andAgricultural Engineering ResearchI. Ackermann 1 , Z. Abrham 2 , R. Schlauderer 1 , J. Vegricht 2 & M.Kováøová 21Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bornim (ATB), May-Eyth Allee 100, D-14469 Potsdam,Germany2 Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering, P.O.Box 54, 161 01 Praha 6 – Ruzynì, CzechRepublicAbstractWith the collapse of the socialist system the necessity arose to adapt the established economicstructures to the conditions of a market economy. This transition process could only be managed bythe successful adoption of innovations. In the agricultural sector, agricultural engineering researchheld a key position in technology transfer. The agricultural engineering institutes in Prague andPotsdam-Bornim worked out low-cost proposals for the reconstruction of animal housing plants inthe early transition period. These proposals found a high acceptance regionally. Moreover farmersand agricultural administration were supported concerning the implementation of new environmentalregulations in Brandenburg. The agricultural engineering institute in Prague developed an internetbasedinformation system for Czech agriculture with the potential of saving substantial costs ofinformation sourcing. The relevance of technology transfer will increase in the future, due to enhancedcomplexity and need of explanation of new technologies. Agricultural engineering research has anexcellent precondition to do this job, because of its independence and the know-how of its staff.Keywords: technology transfer, transition period, agricultural engineeringIntroductionAgricultural engineering as a practically oriented discipline is mainly assessed by its capabilityfor developing successful solutions for farming. For this reason a close relationship betweenagricultural engineering research and farmers is an essential precondition for success. In this paperthe interface between agricultural engineering research and development on the one hand and thefarms on the other hand is studied more closely. The analysis is based on regional case studies inthe State of Brandenburg (Northeast Germany) and in the Czech Republic.Initial situationThe restructuring of agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe from a central planned economy tomarket orientation was and still is a major challenge. Measured against the initial situation, intensiveadaptation processes had to take place in a short time to reach compatibility with the European andinternational competition and to stabilise rural regions.There was no historical model for the restructuring and modernisation of the former stateenterprises and cooperatives under the conditions of a market economy. Therefore the successorshad to find new ways of reorganising and renewing their enterprises. In this connection, farm-3

In contrast to this, the Czech farms surveyed largely maintained historical farm sizes and a broaddiversification of production activities.One focus of modernisation was animal production in both regions (see table 1). In dairyfarming, tethered housing was replaced completely by loose housing. Normally this came alongwith a renovation of milking technology. In many cases the lack of farm capital led to low-costreconstruction of old buildings. The Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bornim (ATB) and theResearch Institute of Agricultural Engineering (vuzt) Prague worked out exemplary solutions forTable 1: New investments realised and organisational measures after 1989 on the farmssurveyed.Investigation subject Farm type Innovations after 1989Farm 1, Brandenburg Mixed Building up of a pig fattening plant, incentive paymentsystemFarm 2, Brandenburg Market crops Vegetable conditioning plantFarm 3, Brandenburg Mixed Loose housing with solid litter (cattle), bed cultivationof potatoes, loop irrigation technologyFarm 4, Brandenburg Mixed Loose housing (cattle), minimum tillage technology,direct drilling technology, incentive paymentFarm 5, Brandenburg Forage Loose housing (cattle), rotary milking parlour,production slurry drilling technology, minimum tillage technologyFarm 6, Brandenburg Market crops Direct marketing of meatFarm 7, Czech Republic Mixed Loose housing (cattle), direct drilling technologyFarm 8, Czech Republic Mixed Loose housing (cattle), feed mixing wagonFarm 9, Czech Republic Mixed Air-conditioned broiler barn, management of farmenterprises as profit centresFarm 10, Czech Republic Mixed Loose housing (cattle), trigon milking parlour,restructuring of responsibility domainsthe redesign of old cow barns in this period (see Bendull & Brunsch 2000). This permitted costsavings in dairy production of an order of magnitude of 1000 to 2300 EURO per cow in Brandenburg.A further focus of activities in animal production concerned the improvement of environmentalsustainability concerning slurry and manure storage. In this field far-reaching regulations for farmerswere implemented in Brandenburg. These mainly affected the approval of new animal housingprojects and the construction of slurry storage sites. Animal housing plants, e.g. with at least 2000fattening pigs, are subjected to permits according to the Federal clean air act. Moreover slurrystorage sites with a capacity of at least 2500 m 3 are subjected to permits. The activities of agriculturalengineering research aimed to contribute to specifying the mandatory distance between animalplant and housing development by examining the odour emissions from animal housing plants(Müller et al. 1998). The competence acquired in this field was in demand by farmers and agriculturaladministrations in diverse procedures during official approval of planning.5

At the Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering (vuzt) Prague, an internet-basedinformation service for agriculture has been developed since 1999. It offers up-to-date informationto the farms in the fields of machine purchase, business management, market, technological systemsfor crop and animal production. This service offers the possibility of reducing the costs of informationsignificantly and thus improves the competitiveness of the farms.ConclusionsRestructuring and modernisation of farms came along with a high demand for investment in thetransition period. In this situation consulting-intensive technology transfer held a key position.Because farms in the State of Brandenburg and the Czech Republic are characterised by a lack ofcapital and large structures, region-specific and farm-specific solutions had to be developed. In thissituation agricultural engineering research was able to provide useful support thanks to the knowhowof its staff and its impartiality. The task of technology transfer will remain important in thefuture of agricultural engineering research because state-of-the-art agricultural technology isincreasingly complex and in need of explanation.ReferencesAckermann, I., R. Schlauderer, J. Vegricht, M. Kováøová & Z. Abrham, 2001. Modernisierungund Restrukturierung von landwirtschaftlichen Lohnarbeitsbetrieben – ein grenzüberschreitender Vergleich. Berichte über Landwirtschaft, Band 79 (3), 2001, LandwirtschaftsverlagMünster Hiltrup, p. 399-414.Bendull, K., Brunsch, R., 2000. Analyse der Verfahren und Investitionen neu errichteter undumgebauter Rinderställe. ATB-Forschungsbericht 1/2000, 111 Seiten.Müller, H.-J., Krehl, H., Krause, K.-H., 1998. Investigations of the immission behaviour fromdifferent animal houses. AgEng´98, Oslo (Norway), conference proceedings part I, pp. 251-252.Schlüter, A., 1999. Modelling the process of institutional change: the case of privatisation in Czechagriculture. Paper presented at the third KATO-Workshop in Prague, March 19-23 rd 1999.6