THE FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY AT LBTU
The Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU) comprises five faculties of which one is the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees in several fields (forestry, veterinary science, food, agriculture, environment and water management, IT, and economics) and, like institutions of higher learning across Europe, also offers programmes for international students.
Since 2016 when the first international student joined the number has increased to about 250 today thanks in part to the relatively low fees. Courses for international students are conducted in English, but the university’s scientific accreditation—only four universities in Latvia have earned this—may also attract foreign students.
Degrees offered up to doctoral level
International students at the university can take a bachelor’s degree in engineering in food and beverage technology, which is one of the eight study programmes offered in English. The degree introduces students to food technologies, food quality, and product development from the initial idea to the creation and marketing of a product. Students do not specialise in their initial years, instead they study a wide range of subjects including fruit and vegetable, meat, fish, cereal, and milk processing technologies, which allows them to work in any of those fields. Later in the programme they are expected to specialise. Students who wish to study further can take a master’s degree in engineering in food science, where they will focus on food chemistry, product development, and food quality and safety. The more ambitious, on concluding their master’s, can continue with a Ph.D. in food science.
The discipline food technology has a 76-year history in Latvian higher education and the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology (FAFT) offers both academic and professional degrees, the latter intended for those who want to work in industry. However, as Liene Ozola, the vice dean points out, even those who graduate with an academic degree usually spend some time working, for example, in production, or a laboratory, or doing quality assessments. Some may also end up working for a government ministry. The faculty has eight units including the Center for Fish Processing Biotechnology Studies and Research. Other units include five institutes (animal sciences, soil and plant sciences, food, plant protection, and agriculture), a training and research farm, and the evaluation centre for economic traits of plants. The faculty does not however have a unit dedicated to aquaculture. Sanita Sazonova, the head of the Fish Processing Biotechnology Study and Research Centre, suspects it may be because the aquaculture industry is relatively new and consequently not very large. It has also mainly focused on growing fish, says Ms Ozola, so there has been little local demand for higher education or research in the field. Related fields such as processing, food safety, or the veterinary aspects of fish production are more popular. It is difficult, says Martins Sabovics, the head of the International Cooperation Centre and a former dean of the faculty, and the programme will not be cost-effective if only a few students are enrolled.
Aquaculture does not merit its own programme—yet
Some aquaculture companies may send an employee to study additionally at a university that offers the specialisation needed. Offering a program exclusively in aquaculture might create challenges for students in finding employment in this field. It would be practical to assess the demand for specialists in this area and, based on that, determine the feasibility of implementing such a programme. The university, together with the faculty and the Life-long Learning Centre, offers short courses on specialised subjects which is another way of obtaining additional qualifications. These earn the attendee a certificate, but designing and implementing a three- or four-year bachelor programme is a different ball game altogether and represents a risk the faculty is unwilling to run. There is a close collaboration between the university and industry for the benefit of both parties. This includes a system of internships where students work at companies, creating links between the university and industry. Many company owners and senior staff are themselves graduates from the faculty. So, if there is a technical issue that calls for external expertise, they can always pick up the phone and speak with someone at the faculty.
Companies can also receive support from the government to develop new products. This enables them to approach the faculty with a project for which they can pay the costs thanks to the money received from the government. If the trial results in a product that is manufactured commercially, then the company is not obliged to return the money to the state. Last year the faculty had close to 50 projects of this nature, says Mr Sabovics, of which two were related to fish. One of these sought to make a product from smoked catfish. Faculty staff, in collaboration with companies or associations, can submit project applications to the Rural Support Service, which can offer up to EUR 400,000 if the evaluator feels the project has merit. If there is some form of innovation in the project, then it stands a better chance of being funded, says Mr Sabovics. Another consideration for the service when evaluating applications is the presence of partners from industry in the project consortium, as the results of the project should benefit the industry. Four fish-related projects received this support including one that sought to develop a range of products from sprats (Production of structured fish mass (minced fish) from Baltic Sea fish and its use in fish products). Another proposal looked at developing ready meals combining fish with vegetables which could then be served at kindergartens, schools, and hospitals, while the third worked out the nutritional requirements for these three categories of users to adjust the products accordingly (Development of recipes and manufacturing technologies for fish dishes intended for preschools and schools, using fish available in the Republic of Latvia). The projects were financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. More generally, the faculty is also interested in reducing waste from the fish processing industry by developing value-added products based, for example, on fish heads or bones. Ms Ozola mentions one of the students who has extracted collagen from fish skin which could potentially be interesting for industry.
Close collaboration with industry ensures new centre’s relevance
The building housing the Center for Fish Processing Biotechnology Studies and Research has been recently renovated, the work started in April 2021 and concluded in December 2023 and the centre opened in May 2024. It now houses well equipped laboratories where samples can be prepared and analysed for teaching or research purposes. The centre also features a seminar and tasting room where the sensory properties of newly developed fish products can be sampled and evaluated. Staff and students at the centre also have access to equipment that is used in other laboratories belonging to the university. More sophisticated equipment that is available at other sites has therefore not been purchased by the centre to avoid duplication of resources and to use the funds saved elsewhere. The laboratories are used only for fish and seafood. The Food Institute, which is a division of the faculty, also has separate pilot laboratories for vegetables and fruits, dairy products, cereals, beverages, and meat, where research on fish was also conducted. However, after working with fish, it was necessary to disinfect the equipment to remove the distinct fish odour before it could be used again for meat research, recalls Mr. Sabovics. Together with the previous rector Irina Pilvere, he decided to make the centre exclusively for experiments with fish. The centre was equipped in collaboration with the Latvian Fish Processors’ Association, which ensured that the equipment purchased would be useful to the industry. The association did not contribute financially—the funding (approximately EUR3m in total including EUR1m that was added later to compensate for inflation) was provided by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Rural Support Service through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
Apart from machines the centre is also equipped with cameras which enable staff to supervise the students remotely as well as to conduct courses online. The work carried out at the centre includes research into ways of increasing a product’s shelf life, reducing the cost of production, into packaging, the use of by-products, improving fish processing techniques, and studying consumer attitudes, among other areas.
The centre emulates a processing plant with scaled down versions of many of the same facilities, machines, and tools that a worker in a processing factory would encounter. Processes such as changing into work clothes and disinfecting hands and shoes exactly like in a commercial processing plant are mandatory for the students. The idea, says Ms Sazonova, is to acquaint students with the processes, machines, and techniques found in a typical processing plant so that they face fewer surprises when they start working.
Fish processing lags in popularity among students
Another use for the equipment that is being considered by the centre is to let smaller companies rent it if they want to do some product testing or development. Small companies are unlikely to have all the equipment available at the centre as their research and development operations are likely to be modest, unlike the big companies who have the resources to invest in laboratories and equipment. A challenge facing the faculty is that fish processing does not attract many students. Part of the issue may be a general shortage of students, while another could be that young people are increasingly drawn to fields dealing with plant-based or other products. Currently the faculty does not offer a programme specifically related to plant-based product development, though Mr Sabovics says that additional lectures are offered about alternative products and their production. But if demand increases the faculty could develop a programme, he adds. Responding to student interests, creating attractive facilities, and offering accredited programmes in English are among the ways a faculty or university can thrive at a time of increased international competition for scholars—a lesson LBTU has clearly learned.
Fish Processing Biotechnology Studies and Research Centre
Paula Lejina street 2
LV-3004 Jelgava
Latvia
Head of centre: Sanita Sazonova
sanita.sazonova@llu.lv