N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceThere is no completely objective science nor impersonal research (Alemany y Sevilla Guzmán, 2009). All research and innovation are related to interests that aim to impose a certain world view (Bourdieu, 1990; Santos, 1995; Sormani, 1974). Nevertheless, the different ways under which scientific knowledge is produced may make it more or less available to the “other”. The way dialogue is established between science and indigenous and local knowledge may make research results more relevant from a social standpoint. To discuss this matter, we ask ourselves how researchers can effectively contribute to building a society more innovative and equitable. We mobilize the viewpoints of farmers, extension agents and researchers to try to figure out how they understand agricultural research, what do they expect from it and how they see their own role in it. Interviews made in south-east Buenos Aires province, Argentina, show a big gap between public agricultural research and extension and farmers' reality. It is mainly private business selling inputs and equipment which are close to farmers, filling their needs and transmiting to them agricultural innovations. To try to bridge the gap between farmers and public agricultural research and extension, it is essential to create mechanisms that facilitate a closer contact between the different actors, as well as to make research evaluation more sensitive to the production of knowledge that is relevant to farmers.
