ARGENTINA

INTA is a public decentralized body subordinated to the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food with operative and financial autarchy.
To carry out and foster actions addressing the innovation of agricultural and livestock, agro-food and agro-industrial sectors to contribute to the competitiveness of agro-industrial chains, environmental health and sustainability of productive systems, social equity and territorial development, through research, technological development and extensión.
Is committed to nacional, regional and local development. Generates knowledge, manages innovation, applies participation strategies and promotes development processes. Integrates economic, environmental and social sustainability in its action areas: value chains, productive systems/agro-ecosystems and territories.
INTA relies on 15 Regional Centres with 47 Agricultural and Livestock Experimental Stations and over 240 Extension Units that cover the whole country plus 3 Research Centers with 12 Institutes. Headcount amounts to 6,500 employees. From them 2,300 are professionals (51% having postgraduate education) and the rest are support staff. Furthermore, INTA has trainees (professionals recently graduated from Universities). There are numerous agreements executed with private sector companies. Most of them are development for Research and Development matters, particularly for the acquisition and dissemination of vegetal crops, elaboration of pre-commercial germoplam, development of agricultural machinery, elaboration of vaccines, vegetal health and animal breeding. INTA is also formalizing Technical Assistance Agreements with private sector companies in the following areas: animal health, plant protection, regulations and protocols and genetic assessments. INTA works actively on multilateral and bilateral cooperation actions and is closely related to international agencies and leverages technology generated by International Research Centres (CGIAR). Its participation in regional and internacional forums is permanent, being the most relevant: within MERCOSUR scope, its institutional participation in the Cooperative Program for Technological Development of the Agriculture in the Southern Cone (PROCISUR); and within American countries scope, its participation in the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO).