The contribution of agronomic research to innovation: The experience of INRA-SAD in France

Abstract

Faced with the crises and challenges associated with global change, innovation has been put forward as the solution sine qua none to construct adaptation strategies for agriculture. However, while various technical solutions have been discovered by farmers and researchers, and while the principles of sustainable development have been put forward in public policy, the implementation of a sustainable agricultural alternative has been slow in becoming established. This perspective demands that agronomic research become more innovative. In France, the Sciences for Action and Development (Sciences pour l’Action et le Développement (SAD)) division of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)) was created in 1979 to better understand the reasons for the resistance of farmers to the adoption of innovations associated with the dominant productivist model. Using a systemic approach, the research in the SAD division revealed the diversity of innovation processes by which farmers adapted to change. This research also gave rise to the development of certain technical solutions, based on the principles of agro-ecology and territorial innovation, and which appeared capable of helping a diversity of agricultural systems to reorient themselves towards greater sustainability. During this research, the principle of co-construction of solutions involving researchers and practitioners became affirmed. Faced with the challenges of climate change, these researches need a more prospective approaches.