Incentives and financing for research and innovation in agriculture: study in research foundations in the South of Brazil

Abstract Brazilian agriculture is increasingly consolidating as one of the world’s leading food producers. The major challenge of this branch is to meet global demand for food, which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), will be 60% higher in 2050 than today. This challenge is aggravated by changes in dietary habits, climate change, and environmental impacts. This research was based on the Resource Dependency Theory, which assumes that no organization is capable of generating all the types of resources that it needs for its survival and growth, and therefore depends on its external environment to obtain resources that enable its operation. The general research objective was to discuss the dependence of resources for research and innovation in agriculture in five Research Foundations in the south of Brazil. The study was descriptive and comparative, with a qualitative approach. For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the managers responsible for the five selected Research Foundations. The results pointed out that, despite the existence of financing lines and fiscal incentives, there is still a predominance of private resources in researching for innovation in agriculture. The researched foundations rely on maintainers, who are responsible for providing resources not coming from the public sector or from the entity’s organic revenues.