Pergamon zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA World Development Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 1113-1126, 1998 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0305750)3/98 $19.00+0.00 PII: s0305-750x(98)00039-4 The Transformation of the Dutch Agricultural Research System: An Unfinished Agenda JOHANNES ROSEBOOM zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU International Service for National Agrkultural Research, The Hague, The Netherlands and HANS RUTTEN National Council for Agrkultural Research, The Hague, The Netherlands zyxwvutsrqponmlkji Summary. - The Dutch agricultural system has been transformed profoundly during the past 25 years. Changes in the structure of the agricultural sector, advancement in science, and more general political and ideological changes are the main forces driving this transformation. In this paper, special attention is paid to the effects of these changes on the institutional context within which the system operates, and on how the experiences in the Netherlands compare with those in other developed countries. The paper concludes with an exploration of possible future developments in the Dutch agricultural research system. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Kq words - Europe, Netherlands, agricultural research, government policy 1. INTRODUCTION The national agricultural research system (NARS) in the Netherlands has undergone a major transformation in many respects during the past 25 years. This transformation has been influenced by changes in the structure of the agricultural sector (including agricultural markets), advancements in the (agricultural) sciences, as well as more general political and ideological changes. In this paper, we focus on these more general political and ideological changes and investigate how they have influ- enced the institutional context within which the system operates. We then compare the Dutch experiences with those in other developed- countries NARS. We conclude with an explora- tion of possible future developments in the Dutch NARS. 2. THE PRESENT STRUCTURE OF THE DUTCH AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM A stylized overview of the present structure of the Dutch agricultural research system is presented in Table 1. The term “system” is used here rather loosely to refer to the various agencies that deal with agricultural research in the Netherlands. The agricultural sector has been defined as including primary agricultural production, as well as agricultural input and processing industries. The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries (MOA) is respon- sible for agricultural research and extension as well as education. Since 1995, policy formulation in these areas has been entrused to a single directorate within the ministry, the Directorate of Science and Knowledge Transfer (DSKT). At the same time, the National Agricultural Research Council lost its coordination and planning functions and has been transformed into an advisory committee conducting foresight studies. Insofar as central planning and coordina- tion of research is deemed necessary, these functions have been assumed by DSKT, which is the single most important funder for agricultural research in the country. DSKT funds or purchases research services at the Agricultural Research Department (known under its Dutch acronym DLO), the Organization for Applied Research in Agriculture (an organization which includes nine experiment stations), Wageningen Final revision accepted: January 1998. 1113