The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) was established by the Agricultural Research Act, 1990 (Act no. 86 of 1990, as amended by Act 27 of 2001). The ARC is the principal agricultural research institution in South Africa. The mandate of the ARC is to conduct research, and its vision is excellence research and development while its mission is to conduct research with partners, develop human capital and innovation in support of the agricultural sector. The ARC has a new Board that started its operations in June 2010. It was vital that South Africa reduces its annual import bill of R4 billion for wheat. The ARC could assist in finding solutions for this, and also in increasing food production in other categories and improving the quality of local production.