Key Trends from the 2003 country brief

• Sugar is a dominant commodity in Mauritius both for the agricultural sector and the economy overall, and this is reflected in a heavy concentration of agricultural research on sugarcane.
• Agricultural R&D spending and research staff levels have declined slightly in recent years.
• Agricultural research is almost completely funded from national sources.
• The share of total agricultural GDP that Mauritius invests in agricultural research (known as its investment intensity ratio) is among the highest of developing countries worldwide.
• The Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) is the country’s second-largest research agency, focusing on nonsugarcane crops and livestock.
• The higher-education and private forprofit sectors have relatively limited roles in agricultural research in Mauritius.

Mauritius