About the Institute

Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia (KGZS) – Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Maribor

Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Maribor is a reputable institution with tradition having roots of its operations in the field of Slovene agriculture development.

MISSION

Producing healthy and safe food in the inhabited countryside. Our task is professional education and consultancy for users in the agriculture activity and the transfer of the most advanced technological findings into practice in the field of agriculture. Our standpoint is based on the principles of the sustainable development of the agriculture and countryside and it is evident in the care for the employed. In the working area, we network all the parties with the aim for higher level of quality of life.

VISION

To become a leading agriculture educational and advisory center in the region of Podravje. This will be achieved by developing numerous areas within the agriculture activity, continuous training of the professional personnel in all departments and professional work in the accredited laboratory of the Institute. The activities such as many long-term business connections, partner embedment in interinstitutional research and project work as well as business relations of the environment we belong to will be of help to achieve the set.

VALUES

At the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry we build on good interpersonal relations. These are the basis for respectful relations with our partners: farmers, clients and service users, suppliers, partner institutions and all we live with. Only with good and open interpersonal relations it is possible to combine business success with our fundamental mission. To the best of our ability we fulfil wishes and requirements of users of our services and influence healthy and environmentally friendly produced food. With our users we wish to achieve more and mainly reach the unified goal on time, which is to put agriculture alongside other perspective activities of the European economy. The goal of our activities is to offer the final user up-to-date and foremost quality services, which will enable them to be more competitive domestically as well as on international markets. A satisfied user of our services is the greatest assurance for our further successful work and development. At the Institute, we build respectful interpersonal relations with users of our services, co-workers and representatives of the society.

MOTIVATION AND CREATIVITY

The only right path to great results is by creating a company environment that motivates people to be innovative and creative. That is why we encourage co-workers to talk about their ideas and if these are useful and professional, we carry them out. Together we always seek new ways to satisfy our business partners. We display our competence by doing our work excellently, professionally, efficiently and timely. Growth and development of the Institute will be built on the best possible fulfilment of our users’ needs, clients’ services and interests of society, employees, environment and business partners. Our working tasks are carried out to the best of our abilities. We strive to perform our tasks in the best way possible, most efficiently and in the shortest time possible.

HISTORY OF KGZS – Institute of agriculture and forestry Maribor

Our mission goes back to the year of 1894 when the forerunner of the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Maribor, Agriculture chemical provincial trial station, established two year earlier, started working in Pristava. That was the time of the start of the industrial development of Lower Styria, which coincides with the construction of the southern railway from Vienna to Trieste. That was a challenge for agriculture and agricultural professional public, which started joining in with new findings, knowledge and technologies. The before established School of Fruit cultivation and Viticulture in Maribor and the developing Institute were the center of knowledge and education for the environment they were set into.

The Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Maribor is the oldest institute within the system of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia. With the Establishment Act of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia 2001, the ownership, status and organization is redefined. The Institute is given the founder KGZS and it becomes a public institute and indirect budget user.

Nowadays, the activity of the Institute is more and more growing out of regional borders and is being reinforced in the entire Slovenia. More often is also its presence outside Slovenia when talking about project work and joint work of cross-border cooperation.

Through time, the Institute lived through numerous historical events and transformations. However, the basic mission was preserved through enviable time - from the establishment in 1894 - and it developed its purpose successfully, that being education and transfer of modern technologies in agriculture. Numerous departments of public and marketing program developed the today’s institution to the level where we are growing into an educational service center in the region for the requirements of agriculture. The basic finding is that development can only be built on own natural as well as human resources. Here, the countryside and the urban part go hand in hand for necessary cooperation. We are given a wonderful Slovene landscape, which with its natural resources has always offered conditions for survival and prosperity to the Slovenian nation.

The development of the countryside and agriculture of today requires the alignment with the goals of sustainable development, which is based on taking into account economic, environmental and social functions of agriculture. In this way, the role of agriculture is put into a broader context as besides basic production function also the interdisciplinary role of agriculture for assuring goods, environment protection, welfare of animals, production of safe food and economic stability is considered.