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Research funding sustainable agriculture gone

Budget cuts to agricultural research in the Netherlands are damaging not just for Wageningen Research but also for the ministry of Economic Affairs. There is no money left for developing sustainable sheds and barns or new crop farming systems, for example. This is apparent from a WUR analysis, Dun IJs, (Thin Ice).
Albert Sikkema

<photo: sketch of ‘Rondeel’-stable>

In 2009 Wageningen Research (the former DLO) received nearly 100 million euros for programme research; in 2016, less than 75 million. Of that money, barely 20 million is available for policy research and barely 10 million for fundamental knowledge-base research. WUR has now listed for the ministry which research themes are being sacrificed to the cuts. Examples are research on sustainable production chains and system innovation. What is more, there is much less money for research in the fields of animal welfare, plant health, manure and minerals, nature, soil, water and climate.

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