Egypt is an intensive user of modern technologies to improve agricultural productivity in view of the natural resource base scarcity and population pressure. With this in mind, the very creation of the Ministry of Agriculture in the beginning of the 20th century was preceded by the establishment of technical divisions and the development of research capabilities. These endeavors culminated into the creation of the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in the early 1970s. Over the past two decades, numerous achievements have been realized, including the development of new varieties, improved agronomic practices, livestock development, maintenance of the national herds and better food processing techniques. New crops and animal breeds have also been introduced and research has been dedicated to problem- solving, side by side with basic science. The overarching goal is to maximize the economic return per unit of land and wate.Within the national agricultural development strategies, ARC assumes the following major functions:
1.Conducting applied and basic research to generate a continuous flow of technologies that help increase productivity and reduce production cost;
2.Transfer of new technologies to the farming community through extension service; and monitoring their adoption by the end users;
3.Human capital development as a continual process.
4.Human capital development as a continual process.
