The agricultural research system of the former Soviet Union: Past and future

In recent times, the agricultural research establishment of the Soviet Union represented a significant portion, some say more than one-quarter, of the global agricultural research system. Things have changed in several respects, even well before the break-up of the Union, mainly involving a variety of reductions in the effective capacity of the establishment. Most recently, this has been through severe underfunding of the many facilities that continue 'in service'. For many years, however, the system has shown symptoms of bloated bureaucracy, a situation not unknown elsewhere in the Soviet administration. The patchy data on various aspects of the research system, past and present, are presented and critically assessed as a prelude to developing sensible stances on investment and rationalization in the agricultural research systems of the Former Soviet Union.