The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation is the largest and the oldest research-development centre in Poland, conducting agricultural studies under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In accordance with the statute of the IUNG, its primary tasks are the scientific development, implementation, and dissemination of environmental knowledge relating to plant growth, soil fertility, as well as the protection of agricultural areas from various forms of degradation.

The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG) was founded in 1950. A tradition of agricultural research in Pulawy, however, goes back to the year 1862, when the Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture and Forestry was here established. The IUNG is also heir to the State Research Institute of Rural Husbandry (PINGW) that was seated in Pulawy in the years 1917-1950.
The Institute employs 320 persons, including: 28 professors and 75 doctors.

The areas of research are: soil science, fertilization, tillage, cultivation of cereals and fodder plants, biomass production for energy purposes, farming and the cultivation of hops and tobacco, selected issues of agricultural phytochemistry and microbiology, the assessment of different management systems, weed regulation in agricultural crops, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and bio-economy. Research works are carried out in 11 scientific departments and 8 Agricultural Experimental Stations, located in different regions of Poland. AESs run agricultural production under different soil and climate as well as economical and organizational conditions. At the same time, they put current organizational and technological solutions offered by science into practice.

IUNG’s activity is clearly focused on the problems of sustainable development of agricultural production, shaping of the agricultural environment and supporting the decisions of the administrative and local government authorities. Through its activities, the Institute helps to increase innovation and competitiveness of Polish agriculture. It cooperates with farm advisory centers, universities and agricultural schools.