Austria 2025 – Components of the Agricultural Innovation System in Austria

Innovation is a key prerequisite for achieving greater productivity. For many centuries, farmers themselves introduced innovative practices, but since the mid-19th century they have mostly restricted themselves to adopting new technologies and implementing them in practice. For many decades, the introduction of ever more efficient production methods reduced the need for workers by about 2 percent a year. In recent years, however, innovation has increasingly and once again been propelled directly by farmers. Changing consumer habits and consumers' eagerness to buy premium products have provided an impetus to change to labour-intensive production methods and increased the value added in agriculture.