Science and Research
The National Museum of Agriculture, PBO (henceforth NMA) is a research organisation[1] and as such a traditional science and research institution comparable to similar state institutions. It views and presents agriculture as a significant sociocultural phenomenon which played an important role in the formation of our modern society.
Research carried out by the museum is designed so as to include a maximally broad range of agricultural subjects, which are viewed as activities essential to society’s development. According to the Foundation Charter of 19 April 2006, the NMA creates collections of material evidence related to the development of agriculture, forestry, game management, hunting, fishing and fish farming, gardening, processing of agricultural products, as well as evidence related to the development of Czech rural areas and cultural landscape of both domestic and international origin. NMA’s priority is to expertly manage items from its own collections and to investigate the environment, phenomena, and relations which contributed to the creation of these pieces of evidence pertaining to technical, economic, sociocultural, and political developments.
As an institution whose activities ought to cover the whole of the Czech Republic, the NMA aims at promoting specialised activities related to the scope of its operations in the whole territory of the Czech Republic. Aware of the extraordinary contribution of the pioneering word of Professor Dr. Josef Kazimour, the museum also aims at further developing the principles he defined. Its goal is not only to continue in improving the quality of specialised activities in the NMA, but also to create and support a network of cooperating specialists and institutions active in areas relevant to NMA’s activities (see Research Platform of the National Museum of Agriculture, Professor Dr. Josef Kazimour and His Legacy).
The main axis of the so-called ‘long-term conceptual development of a research organisation’ (DKRVO) supported by the museum’s founder, i.e. the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, consists of twelve main directions of research, which are related to the individual sub-collections and based on NMA’s needs: Museology; Countryside, agriculture, landscape, ethnography, and traditions; Rural and regional development; Forestry, forest economy, and hunting; Aquatic ecosystems, pond management, and fishing; Gardening (fruit and vegetable farming, floristry), viticulture, and beekeeping; Mechanisation of agriculture and forestry; Service buildings related to agriculture, forestry, and other related areas; Food production, other industries related to agriculture, and meat production; Culinary legacy of the Czech Lands; Countryside in art; Important personages of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, gardening, agricultural enterprise, and related areas.
On top of that, the museum is also engaged in research projects supported from funds other than the DKRVO, such as the Programme of Applied Research and Development of National and Cultural Identity of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (NAKI) or programmes supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GAČR). At the moment, programmes funded from these sources are the NAKI projects Garden Architecture in the Context of Achieving the Goals of the National Revival During the First Czechoslovak Republic and Cultural Landscape as a Space for Social Representation and Relaxation in Select Aristocratic Families in the Period from the Seventeenth Until Early Twentieth Century.
Research results are presented through the medium of either permanent or temporary exhibitions, in the museum’s own publications, but also in our educational activities and lectures in the Czech Republic and abroad, and via other culturally educational activities aimed at the general public. NMA’s employees are very successful in their publication activities, as evidenced by the information contained in the Registry of Information on Results (RIV). With respect to their RIV results, the NMA is one of the most successful museums in the Czech Republic.[2] Publication activities reflect the basic directions of research, which in turn correspond to the organisational structure of the museum, i.e. its individual branches: Čáslav – Museum of Agricultural Machinery, Kačina – Museum of Czech Countryside, Ohrada – Museum of Forestry, Game Keeping, and Fisheries, Valtice – Museum of Viticulture, Gardening, and Environment.
The museum used to publish a journal called Vědecké práce Zemědělského muzea [Scientific Works of the Agricultural Museum]. It appeared under the name of Scientific Works of the Czechoslovak Academy of Agricultural Sciences from the History of Agriculture and Forestry in 1959–1960, as Scientific Works of the Agricultural Museum in 1961–1965 and 1972–1991, as Scientific Works of the Czechoslovak Agricultural Museum in 1966–1971, and as Scientific Works of the National Museum of Agriculture in 1992–1993. The NMA currently published one peer-reviewed journal without impact factor, the Prameny a studie [Sources and Studies]. This journal has been appearing, except for the period of 1993–2005, ever since 1966. Its original name, Sources on the History of Agriculture and Forestry, was changed to its current form in 1978. The journal appears twice or three times a year and offers studies on various subjects which contribute to a better understanding of the broader context of the development of agriculture, forestry, food production, etc.
Research organisation is any organisation which meets the conditions defined in § 2 Article 2) Letter d) of the Act on the Support of Research and Development (Act No. 130/2002 Coll.), accessible in English online at http://www.vyzkum.cz/storage/att/2D962B39DFEE8904BD6E509A5354FACA/Act%20No130%20_2002.pdf
Cf. Final results of evaluation of the efficiency of providers and recipients of support aimed at research and development in
2015: http://hodnoceni15.rvvi.cz/www/ (CZ) [21. 3. 2017];
2016: http://hodnoceni16.rvvi.cz/www/?s=n%C3%A1rodn%C3%AD+zem%C4%9Bd%C4%9Blsk%C3%A9 (CZ) [21. 12. 2017];
2014: http://hodnoceni14.rvvi.cz/www/ (CZ) [5. 10. 2016];
2013: http://www.vyzkum.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=687641 (CZ) [4. 4. 2016];
2012: http://www.vyzkum.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=650812 (CZ) [18. 8. 2015];
2011: http://www.vyzkum.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=611285 (CZ) [18. 8. 2015].
(Last update of data on the NMA on 23 January 2018.)