The Plant Protection Institute (PPI) is a grant-aided, non-profit institution operating under the auspices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) since 1982. However, the PPI has been founded as the State Phylloxera Research Station in 1880 aiming to fight the phylloxera epidemic that threatened viticulture. It was founded as a State Phylloxera Research Station in 1880 with the aim to fight the phylloxera affecting grapevine in Hungary. The Station was later reorganized and merged with an other research station devoted to seed testing and pathology. Thus the Research Institute for Plant Protection was created by this merger in 1932 and it operated under the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture until 1981. PPI is the only institution in Hungary devoted entirely to plant protection research covering all aspects of this multi- disciplinar field, involving among others the biology of pathogens, pests and weeds, physiology and biochemistry of plant resistance to diseases and abiotic stress factors, interactions between pathogens or pests and their natural antagonists and the potential of biocontrol, and the development of environmentally safe pesticides. As a member institute of HAS, the PPI performs primarily basic research with links to applied research and taking part in the development and implementation of new control strategies for both agricultural and horticultural crops.
PPI is situated in Budapest (on the Buda side of the Hungarian capital) consisting of a single main building within the city,
and another group of smaller buildings with adjacent glasshouses and an experimental field of about 50 ha at the outskirts of Budapest, 10 km apart.
The land and buildings of the PPI are properties of the government and leased to the PPI by the HAS. The HAS covers a part (some 40%) of the Institute's operational costs. The remaining portion of the budget has to be covered by the income from domestic and international grants and research funds. The Institute's staff numbers 136 employees including 50 researchers.
