ROLE OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN EUROPE

Agricultural research and education in Europe has played a major role in the advancement of agriculture and land use during the last century . The scientific basis of agriculture has been strengthened and the us e of insight, knowledge and expertise in farmers' fields is widely ado pted. As a result of this development, productivity per hectare, effic iency and efficacy of use of external inputs has increased considerabl y. During the last decades, objectives of agriculture and land use hav e broadened and this illustrates the need for further ecotechnological knowledge and insight to reach, in a balanced way, multiple goals of agriculture, productivity, protection of the environment, nature conse rvation and development. Research and education have to be developed i n that direction to make agricultural science and technology more resp onsive to changing societal demands. The disciplinary scientific quali ty and depth should develop in tandem with integrating problem-oriente d multidisciplinary research activities. Systems approaches may serve as an instrument to that goal. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.