Public Patronage and Political Neutrality in Agricultural Research-Lessons from British Experience

This paper takes afresh look at the evolution of the agricultural scientist and the public patronage of agricultural science in the developed nations, a significant by-product of the capitalist transformation of agriculture. The objective here is to examine how these institutions and actors in their new contexts within less developed economies, are endowed with the legacy of their evolution in capitalist agricultural contexts. The author argues that this legacy hampers effective functioning of these institutions and actors in serving the cause of development in their new contexts.