TAGEM, the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, is the research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye. Türkiye is associated to Horizon Europe, so TAGEM and its institutes can join consortia and receive funding on the same terms as organisations from EU Member States.
TAGEM sets the national agricultural R&D strategy and priorities, and funds and supervises the research carried out in the Ministry's institutes. It develops and registers plant varieties and animal breeds, conserves national genetic resources, and carries out research on soil and water, plant and animal health, fisheries, food, feed and mechanisation. It also follows national and international agricultural markets to support policy.
The research is done in a network of 49 institutes spread over all agro-climatic zones of the country. There are central institutes for field crops, horticulture, plant health, soil, fertilizer and water resources, livestock, aquaculture, food and feed control, and agricultural economics and policy. Regional institutes cover the country from Thrace to south-east Anatolia. Specialised institutes work on crops and disciplines such as maize, cotton, hazelnut, olive, viticulture, biological control, poultry, sheep, apiculture and inland aquaculture. The institutes run field trials, experimental stations, laboratories and breeding programmes, and work with farmers, public advisers and provincial directorates.
In Horizon Europe consortia TAGEM can offer pilot sites and field trials from Mediterranean to semi-arid continental conditions, access to farmers and advisers, a public authority as end user and channel for policy uptake, and research teams across the plant, animal, soil, water, food and economics domains.
