The decision about the foundation of the research institute in 1904 was followed by laying its foundation stone in 1914, and its inauguration in 1924. The research work started actually on 26th October 1924.
The research institution had been reorganised, its profile and name changed several times during the past eight decades.
Royal Hungarian Agricultural Institute of Lowland
(1924 - 1949)
The Institute consisted of four affiliates:
• Crop Production Research Station
• National Research Station for Hemp and Lindseed Testing
• Soil and Agrochemical Research Station
• Agrochemical and Paprika Research Station
The main research profiles were agronomy research, plant breeding, soil and agrochemical research, quality control of agricultural products, quality control seasoning paprika.
Agricultural Experimental Institute of Szeged, later: Agricultural Experimental Institute of Southern Great Plain Region (1950 - 1969)
Most of the former Research Stations merged into a research institute, the activity of which was more associated with farming practice. Its scope included the breeding of field crops, vegetables and peach; production technology, soil improvement, agrochemical researches, business organisation, extension service and regional research.
Cereal Research Institute
(1970 - 1997)
A newprofile was formed for our institute: breeding and seed production of cereals and industrial crops (bread wheat, durum wheat, winter and spring barley, maize, fodder sorghum, sunflower, winter rapeseed, linseed, soybean, red clover, broomcorn); genetic and biotechnological researches; analysis of grain composition and yield quality; extension service.
On the initiation of our institute, six entities decided to found GABONAMAG Company for Basic Seed Multiplication in 1978. In 1990, Cereal Research Institute and Vörös Csillag Agricultural Cooperative bought the shares and launched the Gabonamag Seed Producing Ltd. in order to realize the practical utilization of research results in the form of seed production. In 1973, the international journal, Cereal Research Communications was founded and launched by Prof. Zoltán Barbás.
Cereal Research Non-Profit Company
(1997 – 2008)
In addition to the above activities, the company’s research profile was widened by the breeding and maintenance breeding of Makói onion sorts 2000 to 2007. (Onion breeding had also been done at the predecessor of the non-profit company 1954 to 1976.) After 2007, the variety owner remained our company but the seed multiplication and maintenance breeding was outsourced to another company, just like in case of broomcorn.
Seed conditioning and sale has been carried out directly by our company since 2001, when the seed plant in Kiszombor was bought from Gabonamag Ltd.
Cereal Research Non-Profit Ltd.
(2009 –
The supervision of our company was transferred from the Agricultural Ministry to the National Property Agency Ltd. Our institution has been functioning as a non-profit limited company handling state property and managing the innovation process as a whole.
Since September 2013 it has been operating with unchanged research profile as a state-owned, self-financing non-profit ltd. under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and belonging to the network supervised by the Centre of the National Agrarian Research and Innovation (NAIK).
The following plant species are improved at the Company: winter and spring wheat, durum wheat, winter and spring barley, triticale, oats, rye, corn (grain and silage), grain and silage sorghum, Sudan grass, sunflower, winter rapeseed, soybean, linseed, millet, red clover, Hungarian millet and buckwheat.
The company is the variety owner of the following plant species: broomcorn, onion, garlic, pumpkin, melon and paprika.