AGRORESURSU UN EKONOMIKAS INSTITUTS

Their core work

The Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics is Latvia's principal research body for agricultural policy, rural development, and sustainable farming systems. Their work spans organic agriculture — including seed improvement and plant breeding — as well as rural policy analysis using data-driven methods like text mining. They contribute applied research on agroecology, animal welfare, and soil health within large European consortia, bridging Baltic agricultural knowledge with EU-wide research networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2016–2017) focused squarely on organic agriculture: soil health, biodiversity, animal welfare, and eco-functional intensification through projects like CORE Organic Cofund and LIVESEED. By 2019, their focus shifted toward rural policy and digital methods, with PoliRural introducing text mining for policy analysis. This suggests a broadening from purely agronomic research toward the socioeconomic and digital dimensions of rural development.

Moving from farm-level organic research toward policy-level rural development analysis with digital tools — a good partner for projects combining agriculture with governance or data science.

How they like to work

Exclusively a participant across all three projects, never a coordinator — they contribute specialist knowledge within larger teams rather than leading consortia. With 120 unique partners across 28 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in very large consortia (averaging 40 partners per project). This means they are comfortable in complex, multi-country collaborations and accustomed to delivering defined work packages within big networks.

Despite only three projects, they have built a remarkably broad network of 120 partners across 28 countries, reflecting participation in large pan-European consortia. Their reach spans nearly all EU member states, with no apparent geographic concentration beyond their Baltic home base.

What sets them apart

As Latvia's main agricultural research institute, they offer a Baltic perspective that is underrepresented in many EU consortia — useful for geographic coverage requirements. Their combination of organic farming expertise with emerging data analysis capabilities (text mining for policy) is relatively unusual for a national agricultural institute. For consortium builders needing a reliable Latvian partner in food, agriculture, or rural development calls, they are an established and well-connected choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• LIVESEED
  Their largest project by funding (EUR 210,899), focused on improving organic seed and plant breeding across Europe — a practical, applied topic with direct market relevance.
• PoliRural
  Represents a strategic pivot toward digital policy tools (text mining), signaling the institute's evolution beyond traditional agronomic research.
• CORE Organic Cofund
  An ERA-NET Cofund coordinating transnational organic agriculture research — gave them access to a wide network of organic farming researchers across Europe.