Ten-year review : Tropical Agriculture Research Center by Tropical Agriculture Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan

Includes table

Includes bibliographical references

The Tropical Agriculture Research Center (TARC) is one of the 30 research institutes affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. Unlike the other institutes which carry out research mostly related to domestic agriculture, the Center is involved in agricultural research overseas, in particular, in the countries located in the tropical and subtropical regions.

To promote the cooperative research programs for rural and agricultural development in the tropical and subtropical countries, the Center was established in June 1970 after carrying out informal activities for 5 years. The headquarters of the Center were at first located in Tokyo and subsequently transferred to Tsukuba Science City in 1975, while a branch station was set up in Ishigaki, one of the Okinawa islands.

For the past 15 years including the preparatory period of 5 years, TARC has dispatched more than 600 research scientists to conduct investigations relating to agricultural technology adapted to the tropical zone, while it has developed a technology suited to the subtropical area at the branch station.

Although hitherto research efforts tended to be concentrated in the countries of Southeast Asia, more recently the activities of the Center have gradually in- volved Latin America and Africa. Also, with time, research has become more diversified and not solely confined to rice farming as it was at the outset. Moreover, the research activities mentioned above have mostly been conducted on a partnership basis with the tropical countries concerned.

To commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Foundation of the Center in June 1980, we decided to publish "TARC TEN-YEAR REVIEW" in Japanese along with an English version. In this publication, the main findings in each research area are summarized and all the activities conducted at the Center listed.

We do hope that the "TARC TEN-YEAR REVIEW" will not only provide valuable information but also will contribute to a better understanding of the research objectives of the Center while promoting collaborative research activities overseas.