agriculture and food economy in poland

Research and development units
AGRICULTURAL POLICY
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for
supervising 20 research and development units including 17 research institutes,
2 central laboratories and 1 research and development centre.
Research and development units are engaged in research and development
activities in all areas and disciplines of agricultural sciences covering plant
production, animal production, agri-food processing, as well as technique,
economics and organisation of production.
In 2003 the average number of scientific staff working for the Ministerial
research and development centres was 1 130 persons including 179 professors.
Agricultural sciences in Poland achieved a high scientific level, in particular in
such disciplines as veterinary science, physical properties of soils, environmental
pollution and food contamination, agricultural crops genetics, farm animal
physiology and the use of biotechnology to obtain organisms with the desired
characteristics. Ministry research and development units pursue over 3 000 themes
annually under their statutory activities, of which 1 500 are completed each year.
Since 1998 information on research conducted under statutory activities and
completed every year in ministerial R&D units has been entered in the IT system
“SIBROL”, run by the Central Agricultural Library. The Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development gives awards to R&D units’ staff (scientific teams) for their
great achievements of significant importance for agriculture, rural development and
agricultural markets.
Overall, 7 740 publications were issued by R&D units’ employees in 2003,
including 2 968 scientific publications, reviewed and issued by ministerial R&D
units’ staff and 481 monographs and manuals.
Funds allocated for financing or co-financing are transferred from the national
budget as a grant defined as to a grantee, earmarked subsidy and based on the
decision or agreement on, inter alia, statutory activities of units, research projects,
earmarked projects, contributions to international institutions.
Moreover, R&D units have other sources of funds for research and development
such as participation in foreign cooperation programmes, provision of services to
economic and scientific establishments as well as lease and sale of assets, interest
on capital, etc.
Generally in 2003, R&D units reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture
were running approximately 700 national research programmes and around
112 international research programmes, of which 52 under EU schemes.
60