Developments in Agricultural Research

Abstract

THE extended field of activity and additional financial resources which have recently been granted by the Government to the Agricultural Research Council have opened the door to new developments in this branch of applied science. A large part of the Council's activities will still be devoted to co–ordinating, and advising on, the work of the various research institutes to which the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture for Scotland are making maintenance grants, and to furthering the interests of these institutes in every possible way; but it is the Council's intention to devote some part of the funds to be expended at its own discretion, for which it is answerable to the Lord President of the Council, to the furtherance of agricultural research in university departments, and to the enlargement of its own scientific staff. It is, in particular, the Council's desire to encourage both senior and junior research workers in the biological sciences to enter the agricultural field. In pursuance of this policy, the Council has established two new research units under its direct control, a Unit of Animal Physiology, and a Unit of Soil Enzyme Chemistry.