In accordance with Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 518 of August 1, 2012, the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies took over the assessment of plant variety Testing for Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) from the State Plant Protection Service.

The VCU-test is necessary to gain admission to the national catalogue for varieties of agricultural species

The objectives of the evaluation of Value for Cultivation and Use of plant varieties are to determine:

• differences in yield, biological characteristics, quality of the product, chemical and technological properties from the standard variety, resistance of varieties to diseases and pests, as well as other economically significant characteristics;
• suitability for cultivation in the agro-climatic conditions of Latvia.

We carry out plant variety identification at the six places in following institutions:

• Study and Research Farm "Pēterlauki", Jelgavas nov. (56.54376492028199, 23.72236410883836);
• Institute of Agronomy, Skrīveri (56.631631202346966, 25.11966487244516);
• Study and Research Farm "Vecauce", Vecauce (56.46872342456037, 22.887458185146777);
• The Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics Priekuļi (57.31372644791623, 25.339065165623598), Stende (57.18935379210131, 22.56185507177072) and Viļāni (56.58771432088957, 26.936714422970756) scientific centers;
• LBTU Malnava College (56.77493272137237, 27.71936832643843).

We cooperate with clients who wish to carry out VCU of plant varieties in Latvia.

Detailed information can be obtained by contacting the head of the VCU center, Sandis Odumiņš, +37128352911, sandis.odumins@lbtu.lv

Regulations Regarding the Assessment of Value for the Cultivation and Use of Plant Variety: https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/250577-regulations-regarding-the-assessment-of-value-for-the-cultivation-and-use-of-plant-variety  

The results of the VCU tests of plant varieties can be found on the State Data Portal: https://data.gov.lv/dati/eng/dataset/augu-skirnu-saimniecisko-ipasibu-novertesana