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The research and
advisory activities of DARTS are organized into seven
commodity groups. Each commodity group is headed by a
National Research Coordinator (NRC). Within each
commodity group, there are several commodity teams, each
headed by a Commodity Team leader (CTL). The CTL is
responsible to the NRC who reports to the Director at
headquarters through Deputy Directors for Research
Programmes and Technical Services and Administration.
Goals, objectives and research priorities for each
commodity team are defined by DARTS, while the
identification of research projects is the responsibility
of the individual team members. Identified projects are
discussed by the commodity group at annual in-house
research meetings before being presented to the
Agricultural Research Council (ARC) for approval.
DARTS conducts research in all agricultural and related fields through
seven research-oriented commodity groups:
(i) Cereals, (ii) Grain Legumes, Oilseeds and Fibres, (iii) Horticulture,
(iv) Livestock and Pastures, and (v) Soils and Agricultural Engineering,
(vi) Technical Services, and (vii) Plant Protection and Quarantine.
In addition to the research-related activities, DARTS also provides technical
advisory services in the fields of: crops, livestock, farming systems,
agroforestry, plant protection and quarantine, regulatory services, soil
surveys, soil management, seed services, soil and plant analyses, statistical
analyses, fertilizer recommendations, library services, farm machinery,
agricultural engineering and crop plant preservation. There are two service-oriented
commodity groups: Technical Services, and Plant Protection and Quarantine.These
commodity groups also conduct research to address farmers' problems in
many areas including: seed production, storage, pests and diseases, conservation
of plant genetic resources, biological control, plant protection, crop
varieties, soil fertility and livestock production.
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