Association de Coordination Technique Agricole ACTA

As network leader for animal and plant supply chains, ACTA federates 15 technical agricultural institutes and represents them with professional authorities at the national and European levels. The ITAs (Technical Agricultural Institutes) represent the applied research level of the French agricultural research and Innovation system. ACTA and the ITAs were created and are still directed by the farmers themselves. They are aimed to meet the farmers’ expectations in term of research in order to give them directly applicable results. Their activities aim to improve competitiveness of farms and adapt production systems to the society expectations. Each ITA is specialized in one or more production area(s) whereas ACTA carries on research on transversal and cross cutting innovative themes, such as digital and big data, modelling, innovative cropping systems, fertilization and environment, biodiversity...Those institutes provide an interface between farmer needs and academic research. The Institutes are also a strong technical support for the actors of the different production sectors and carry out research on behalf of farmers’ groups. They play major roles in Scientific and Technical watch, experimentation, knowledge production and assembly, dissemination and training, and support to public policies.