The Institut national de la recherche agronomique (; ; abbr. INRA ) was a French public research institute dedicated to

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

. It was founded in 1946 and is a

Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment A Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment (, EPST) is a category of public research institutes. In France, they were authorized by Law No. 82-610 of 15 July 1982. In Algeria, they were authorized by decree No. 99-256 of 16 November 19 ...

under the joint authority of the Ministries of Research and Agriculture. From 1 January 2020 the INRA merged with the IRSTEA (

Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture The Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (; "National Institute of Scientific and Technological Research for Environment and Agriculture"; IRSTEA), formerly known as Cemagref, was a public ...

) to create the INRAE ( Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement). INRA led projects of targeted research for a

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

, a safeguarded environment and a healthy and high quality food. Based on the number of publications in agricultural sciences/crops and animal sciences, INRA was the first institute for agricultural research in Europe, and the second in the world. It belonged to the top 1% most cited research institutes.

Missions

INRA main tasks were: * to gather and disseminate knowledge; * to build know-how and innovation for the society; * to provide expertise to public institutions and private companies; * to participate in science-society debates; * to train in research.

Staff and organization

INRA was a research institute with 1,840 researchers, 1,756 research engineers and 4,694 lab workers/field workers/administrative staff. In addition, 510 PhD students were trained, and 2,552 interns were employed every year. INRA was composed of 13 scientific departments: * Environment and Agronomy * Biology and crop breeding * Plant health and environment * Ecology of forests, meadows and aquatic environments * Animal genetics * Animal physiology and animal production systems * Animal health * Characterization and processing of agricultural products * Microbiology and food processing * Human nutrition * Sciences for action and development * Social sciences, agriculture and food, territories and environment * Applied mathematics and computer sciences Moreover, INRA provided tools and support to the scientific community: databases, environmental research observatories,

genetic resources Genetic resources are genetic material of actual or potential value, where genetic material means any material of plant, animal, microbial genetics, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity. Genetic resources is one of the ...

centers, experimental platforms, etc. The past and current directors of INRA include: * 1946-1948 : Charles Crépin * 1948-1956 : Raymond Braconnier * 1956-1963 : Henri Ferru * 1963-1972 : Jean Bustarret * 1972-1974 : Jean-Michel Soupault * 1975-1978 : Raymond Février * 1978-1989 : Jacques Poly * 1989-1991 : Pierre Douzou * 1991-1999 : Guy Paillotin * 1999-2003 : Bertrand Hervieu * 2004-2012 : Marion Guillou * 2012-2016 : François Houllier * 2016-now : Philippe Mauguin

Centers and partnerships

In 2014, INRA had 17 regional centres in France, including in the French overseas territories. Most laboratories and facilities located in Paris region are to be moved to the

Paris-Saclay Paris-Saclay is a research-intensive and business cluster currently under construction in the south of Paris, France. It encompasses research facilities, two French major universities with higher education institutions (''grandes écoles'') and ...

research-intensive cluster Research-intensive clusters (RICs) are regions with a high density of research-oriented organizations. These regions may be informally designated, or may be represented by a formal association. Member organizations are often universities, business ...

. INRA develops partnerships with: * universities and French top schools in agricultural/veterinary sciences * French research institutes of fundamental and targeted research. Notably,

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

and

INSERM The (Inserm, ) is the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. History and organisation Inserm was created in 1964 as a successor to the French National Institute of Health. Inserm is the only public research institution ...

are INRA first two partners. * French research institutes of agricultural

applied research Applied science is the application of the scientific method and scientific knowledge to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines, such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted with basic science, ...

( Terres Inovia, Arvalis Institut du Végétal, etc.) * the main agricultural research institutes in the world (

Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural experiment station, agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founde ...

Wageningen University and Research Centre Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally important center fo ...

, etc.). It has scientific collaborations and exchanges with many countries in Europe, America and Asia (see e.g. collaborations map in). Nearly half of the publications are co-authored by foreign scientists.

Research on wine and grapes

INRA maintained a collection of vines at Domaine de Vassal, in Marseillan near

Sète Sète (; , ), also historically spelled ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises'' (fem ...

, a site where

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

cannot survive.

Gouais blanc Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...

can be found there. Researches on vine cultivation are conducted in Pech Rouge estate, in

Gruissan Gruissan (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. The historian Émile Raunié (1854–1911) was born in Gruissan. Population The town Situated on the Mediterranean coast of Southern France, Gruissan is situated in t ...

.Pech Rouge at www1.montpellier.inra.fr
/ref> INRA also owns the Château Couhins wine-producing estate near Bordeaux. Many wine grapes have been created at INRA stations including Ederena.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 322, Allen Lane 2012 INRA was a member of the consortium for the genome sequencing of ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'' in 2007.

References

External links