Institut national de la recherche agronomique


The Institut national de la recherche agronomique was a French public research institute dedicated to agricultural science. It was founded in 1946 and is a Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment under the joint authority of the Ministries of Research and Agriculture. From 1 January 2020 the INRA merged with the IRSTEA to create the INRAE.
INRA led projects of targeted research for a sustainable agriculture, a safeguarded environment and a healthy and high quality food. Based on the number of publications in agricultural sciences/crops and animal sciences, INRA was the first institute for agricultural research in Europe, and the second in the world. It belonged to the top 1% most cited research institutes.

Missions

INRA main tasks were:
INRA was a research institute with 1,840 researchers, 1,756 research engineers and 4,694 lab workers/field workers/administrative staff.
In addition, 510 PhD students were trained, and 2,552 interns were employed every year.
INRA was composed of 13 scientific departments:
Moreover, INRA provided tools and support to the scientific community: databases, environmental research observatories, genetic resources centers, experimental platforms, etc.

Centers and Partnerships

In 2014, INRA had 17 regional centres in France, including in the French overseas territories. Most laboratories and facilities located in Paris region are to be moved to the Paris-Saclay research-intensive cluster.
INRA develops partnerships with:
INRA maintained a collection of vines at Domaine de Vassal, in Marseillan near Sète, a site where phylloxera cannot survive.Gouais blanc can be found there.
Researches on vine cultivation are conducted in Pech Rouge estate, in Gruissan. INRA also owns the Château Couhins wine-producing estate near Bordeaux. Many wine grapes have been created at INRA stations including Ederena.
INRA was a member of the consortium for the genome sequencing of Vitis vinifera in 2007.