Evaluation of scientific production in the agricultural sector in Algeria and a project to establish a national fund of information in agricultural research

Abstract

Evaluating scientific production in the Algerian agricultural sector using the science measurement tool aims to estimate the level of congruence - or, conversely, areas of disparity - between the directions of scientific research on the one hand and the agricultural economic sector on the other hand. The process of evaluating research topics for the BABINA database carried out by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the El Harrach region (Algeria) within the framework of the Algerian Network for Agricultural Documentation (RADA) project, which made it possible to create the first basic instructions for evaluating the research programs of this institute within fifteen years.

Within the framework of this work, we tried to find out the extent to which the agricultural scientific production of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in El Harrach (Algeria) responds to the requirements of programs for the social and economic development of the National Agricultural Development Plan (PNDA). The science measurement tool, especially the Associated Words method, showed us the strength of the correspondence of some research axes with the priorities of the National Agricultural Development Plan, such as grains, water, and milk. This study also revealed to us areas of great disparity between research projects and some programs aimed at the economy, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and seedlings. The results obtained through our research would allow decision-makers and researchers to identify research programs that have registered a large number of scientific interests, in addition to assessing the level of responsiveness of scientific research programs to the directives of the economic sector.