I am focusing my issue on developing coutries which lack of resources as well as inclined to knowledge diffusion perspective to upgrade research capabilities
Constant efforts to upgrade the human resource involved in R&D, working out collaborative projects with similar public sector institutions, efforts to seek more R&D funding from governments by working in the priority areas are some of the measures which can be taken to upgrade R&D capabilities in agricultural sector.
One effective way demanding no extra resources is to promote the farmer-led research and extension among the top priorities of the existing public funded research. The structure of the public research at different levels (national/regional/local) is of high relevance in that respect. The only change required addresses the selection methodology of the researched themes and cases. If the goodwill of the management in these structures is a resource, then you may need a little :)