History of the Centre

Therefore in 1985, the CRZV (Zootechnical and Veterinary Research Centre) of Theix and the CRA (Agronomic Research Centre) of Mon Désir-Crouël merged to create the INRA Centre of Clermont-Ferrand - Theix.

Research on agronomy in Clermont-Fd has been conducted since 1873 and in 1933 the Ministry of Agriculture created an agricultural warning station, managed by the Puy-de-Dôme department. The laboratories of the Agronomic Research Centre (Centre de Recherche Agronomique) of Mon Désir were built in 1933, as well as model farms. Then the property of Crouël, among the best land of Limagne, was purchased. This land was ideal for conducting field trials on arable crops, and this led to the setting up of the Plant Breeding Laboratory. Naturally, these research teams joined the National Institute for Agricultural Research when it was created in 1946. In 1969, for the first time in the world, researchers developed the first sunflower hybrid. It was also at this time that collaboration with technicians from Limagrain led to the creation of the new corn variety LG11, the success of which was at the origin of the expansion of the Limagrain seed company. The increasing urbanization of the Clermont-Fd agglomeration led to the creation of an expanded Crouël site which in turn ended in the sale of Mon Désir in 1997. The 3 current units were grouped together on a single site. A special building for genotyping has recently been constructed.

INRA's arrival in Theix was part of a national decentralization programme which began in the 1960s. In 1962, the site of Theix was chosen at the instigation of Robert Jarrige, a pioneer in animal production research conducted up until then at the INRA research centre of Jouy-en-Josas. This choice was supported by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the Finance Minister at this time. The first zootechnicians who were relocated from Jouy-en-Josas arrived in 1964. After a difficult start, there were further recruitments and new teams arrived: among others, microbiology and meat. At the same time, the addition of the experimental domains at Marenat, Orcival and Laqueuille increased the experimental resources. In 1992, the first French Centre of Human Nutrition Research, the CRNH of Auvergne (in French), was created, significantly supported by the scientific competence in animal nutrition existing at INRA. The most recent significant property development programme involved the construction of "lab 4", a building for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) as well as the renovation of premises (techno 2000/research on meat, nutrition experimental unit).